




















































THE LIBRARY 

OF CONGRESS 



CHINA IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: 
IMPLICATIONS FOR OPEN SOURCE RESEARCH 


A Report Prepared under an Interagency Agreement 
by the Federal Research Division , 

Library of Congress 


November 1996 


Authors: Rebecca A. Clothey 

Robert Garian 
Andrea M. Sava da 
Ming Zhang 

Project Manager: Robert L. Worden 


Federal Research Division 
Library of Congress 
Washington, D.C. 20540-4-840 

Tel: 202-707-3900 

Fax: 202-707-3920 

E-Mail: frds @/oc. go v 

Homepage: http:///cweb. toe. go v/rr/frd/ 




































U(j> 3 

r ) 


Dear Reader: 

This product was prepared by the staff of the Federal Research Division of the Library 
of Congress under an Interagency Agreement with the sponsoring United States 
Government agency. 

The Federal Research Division is the Library of Congress's primary fee-for-service 
research unit and has served United States Government agencies since 1948. At the 
request of Executive and Judicial branch agencies, and on a cost-recovery basis, the 
Division prepares customized studies and reports, chronologies, bibliographies, foreign- 
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For additional information on obtaining the research and analytical services of the 
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frds@loc.gov, or write to: Marketing Coordinator , Federal Research Division , Library of 
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be viewed at http//lcweb.loc.gov/rr/frd. 

Q|sM.UW~_ 

Robert L. Worden, Ph.D. 

Chief 

Federal Research Division 
Library of Congress 
101 Independence Ave SE 
Washington, DC 20540-4840 
E-mail: rwor@loc.gov 































































































Library of Congress - Federal Research Division 


China in the 21st Century: Open Source Research 


PREFACE 

This study seeks to contribute to a better understanding of implications of information 
and communications trends for open source research on China to the year 2010, including likely 
information flows and controls in China. The combination of information sensitivities and strict 
controls over information and information gathering restrict the dissemination of ma4ttterials and 
will continue to limit the availability of information about China. The study discusses creative 
approaches to acquiring and analyzing material on China and includes a bibliography of the major 
sources consulted. 


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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PREFACE.i 

OVERVIEW.1 

The Information Environment: Telecommunications Structure and Information 

Controls .2 

Telecommunications Structure .2 

Information Controls.3 

SCENARIOS FOR OPEN SOURCE INFORMATION (1997-2010).4 

Market-Driven Availability of Information .4 

Prospects for Continued Information Flow (or Otherwise) .5 


INVESTMENTS, TECHNOLOGIES, COMMERCIAL GROWTH, AND 

INFORMATION ACCESS.8 

Improvements in Infrastructure and Technologies .10 

Telecommunications Networks.12 

Impact on Advanced Industrial and Telecommunications Technologies .14 

Expanded Internal Information and External Flow of Information .15 

Investment and Business Information Databases.16 

Technical Information Databases.17 

Other Information Providers .17 

Domestic Investments .19 

Foreign Investments .20 

The West .20 

Japan .21 

Taiwan.21 

CHANGES IN THE OPEN SOURCE INFORMATION SETTING 21 

New Avenues of Information and Expanded Publication Venues .21 

Internet and CD-ROM Publishing.28 

Public Media Outlets. Brokers, Distributors .31 

China: Specific Journals as Sources of Information.31 

Asia-Pacific Region: Journals.35 

Western Sources.36 

Radio and Television .37 

Radio .37 

Television.38 

Access Strategies .39 

Ground . 39 

Intermediary.40 

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Mix. 40 

Prospects and Impact. 41 

Information Costs . 41 

Increase . 41 

Decrease. 41 

Specialized Data .42 

Availability and Current Restrictions .42 

Open Source Processing .43 

Translation. 43 

Analysis. 43 

Capabilities Needed.44 

THE INTERNET.44 

Networks .48 

ChinaNet .48 

China Education and Research Network (CERNET) .49 

Other Information Networks.50 

E-Mail .51 

The Internet and Illiteracy .52 

Control Mechanisms: Restrictions and Access .53 

Impact on Internal and External Communications .56 

Scenarios for Control .58 


OPEN SOURCE INFORMATION: RESTRICTIONS OR LIBERALIZATION?.59 

Leading Information System Institutions .59 

Advocacy of Restrictions.59 

Liberalization.62 

Leadership and Policy Shifts .65 

Next Generation of Leaders .68 

National Priorities .68 

Views of the United States.69 

Views of the World .71 

Other Elements.72 

The Future .73 


APPENDIX.74 

BIBLIOGRAPHY .75 


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OVERVIEW 

China's state-supported newspaper, Guangming ribao (Enlightenment Daily), declared in 
1995 that: 

In a modem society, a country's access to effective information as well as its efficient 
development and utilization of information resources represents a major source of that 
country's competitive power, and also serves as an important foundation on which the 
country can cultivate comparative advantages during its economic exchanges with other 
countries. 1 

The resource based on integration of information and telecommunications ... enjoys 
tremendous flexibility and can said to be exhaustible. 2 

If modem states are to maintain their competitive power in the geopolitical, societal, 
military, as well as economic, realms, they must exploit the available world of information. For 
the United States, continued access to open source information is vital. Open source information 
yields a complex array of material, which is gathered through a variety of means—through physical 
channels (for example, in hardcopy format such as publications) or through online sessions 
(bulletin boards, Internet, or intranet). Although much of the currently available open source 
information on China relates primarily to the business environment, the search strategies used to 
access that information can also be used as a model to access information on other areas. 

China's economic reforms and opening to the outside world began in 1978 and have 
resulted in increasing demands for telecommunications services and an expansion of the nation's 
information environment. China's potential both as a telecommunications market and for 
developing its information sector are vast. Although conditions for developing domestic data 
telecommunications businesses are favorable, the leadership’s approach to increased openness to 
information has been to regulate the sector. Beijing may wish to impose further controls in the 
mid-term future. However, it is unlikely that the ability or the will either to completely close or to 
successfully monitor the increasingly open information sector will be as thorough as some top 
leaders may wish. Further, the penalty for too severe restrictions on information may ultimately 
choke, then negate, the positive benefits of increased business opportunities, which provide much- 
needed foreign exchange. 

Information is for sale. Reduced state funding, combined with the mandate to replace lost 




















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revenues through entrepreneurial endeavors and the profit motive—spurred on by economic 
reforms—has abetted the rise of China's information industry. However, Chinese officials estimate 
that the information sector, "is some 20 years behind the average world level." 3 

The Information Environment: Telecommunications Structure and Information Controls 

Telecommunications Structure 

China has a variety of national communications networks and telecommunications service 
providers. The telecommunications environment is managed by various national and local 
government administrations. At the apex is the cabinet-level Ministry of Posts and 
Telecommunications (MPT), a State Council organization that sets telecommunications policy; 
issues plans, standards, and technical regulations; and oversees equipment approval and 
interprovincial network construction and operations. The MPT's plans are formulated in 
conjunction with the state's five-year plans-the latest being the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1996- 
2000). These plans are based on collaborations with the powerful State Planning Commission, 
the State Science and Technology Commission, and the State Economic Commission. The MPT 
also administers the public fixed telecommunications networks and related research and 
production facilities. These include government-owned corporations, such as the China National 
Corporation of Communication Construction and the China Posts and Telecommunications 
Industry Corporation. The MPT also administers various institutions, such as the Academy of 
Telecommunications Technologies and the People's Posts and Telecommunications Publishing 
House. In addition, the MPT serves as coordinator between the public and private networks and 
is involved in a wide spectrum of telephone, wire, telegraph, and international communications 
services. 

The Directorate General of Telecommunications, an organization under the MPT, was 
established in 1993 to assume responsibilities for telecommunications network construction, 
operations, and maintenance. As of mid-1996, the transfer of all such functions to this 
subordinate directorate from the MPT was incomplete. 4 

The State Communications Investment Corporation, an organization with subministerial 
status, is responsible for infrastructure investment in the communications sector. The corporation 


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also has a Department of International Development and Cooperation. 

Provincial level (provinces, autonomous regions, and independent municipalities) posts 
and telecommunications administrations throughout China have significant flexibility to plan and 
develop their own networks. Autonomy seems to vary depending on provincial-level finances; 
coastal provinces with greater incomes have more leeway than do the poorer interior provinces 
and autonomous regions (see Telecommunications Networks, below). 5 

Information Controls 

A variety of organizations exercise control over the information environment, and Beijing 
continues to fine-tune information control responsibilities. At the highest level, the Propaganda 
Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCP) coordinates 
national-level control of information and is responsible for oversight of the Ministry of Radio, 
Cinema, and Television and the Ministry of Culture, both of which are subordinate to the State 
Council. Intermediate levels of control exist according to specialty. For example, the People's 
Liberation Army's (PLA) General Political Department supervises military publications as well as 
the output of the PLA's large Literary and Art Corps; the latter includes films, novels, poetry, and 
artwork. The Chinese Writers' Association is responsible for the content of journals published 
under its aegis. The All-China Federation of Literature and Art Circles, an umbrella group for 
nine organizations including the Chinese Writers' Association, is responsible for the output of its 
subordinate organizations. 

In May 1996, the State Council Information Work Leading Group replaced the Joint 
Conference for National Economic Informatization. The conference, established by the State 
Council in 1993, is an ad hoc policymaking body for the information sector. The conference 
monitors the booming information industry and grants approval to Internet service providers, 
coordinates ministerial conflicts of interest (and those between the MPT and Unicom), and is 
establishing an electronic information market of economic and social information resources to 
integrate, expand, and facilitate information sharing among China's ministries and commissions. 
The new group is expected to function as an "industry supervisor and to oversee major projects" 
approved by the State Planning Commission. 6 Ministerial-level members of the working group 


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include participants from the State Council; the State Economic and Trade Commission; the State 
Planning Commission; the State Science and Technology Commission; the ministries of 
electronics industries, finance, and posts and telecommunications; and the People's Bank of China. 
The group has been directed to "... help provide solutions to the critical problems arising from 
large computer information networks and international networking." 7 

The most problematic issue for China's leadership is control. The CCP views liberalizing 
communications as a potential threat to its authority. Controls on information are not applied 
equally across the media and have always been imperfect, even in the Mao Zedong era (1949-76) 
when the party's legitimacy was usually unquestioned and punishments for disobedience were 
extremely severe. However, developments in the fast-changing information environment have 
limited the ability to manage and enforce restrictions (see Open Source Information: Restrictions 
or Liberalization; The Internet, below). The burgeoning information industry is subject to 
proliferating regulations and restrictions, but there is no question that control mechanisms are 
inadequate—and reactive—rather than planned. 

SCENARIOS FOR OPEN SOURCE INFORMATION (1997-2010) 

Market-Driven Availability of Information 

The availability of information in China in the post-1978 reform period has been 
proliferating, and the information business is flourishing. Both internal and external sources of 
information on China are becoming more attainable than ever before. Substantial economic 
growth has led to a major expansion of the information industry and the need to improve and 
expand China's telecommunications base. 

There is no question that avenues for exploiting open source information are expanding 
and that revenues for providing such information are increasing. Chinese officials estimate that 
business volume derived from online services will be valued at approximately US$120 million in 
1996 and between US$360 million and US$480 million in 1997. 8 A conservative estimate; if this 
trend continues, is a business volume of nearly US$1 billion by 2000. Analysts need to note the 
likely correlation between the increased availability of information and decreased government 
funding and to be aware that when a government organization faces a state-budget shortfall it is 


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likely to join forces with a commercial enterprise to sell a product-information. Private-sector 
database services owned by state-run corporations and other public entities also sell information 
on a market basis. These circumstances likely will continue in the 1997 to 2010 period and US 
collection and analysis of open source information will be enhanced as a result. 

Although foreign companies are prohibited from ownership in China's services sector and 
foreign involvement in the telecommunications sector is subject to limitations (for example, 
foreign companies are restricted from managing and operating public telephone services), financial 
gain is a motivator. As a result, government officials have ignored some foreign operations and 
have approved some cooperative "experiments" with foreign enterprises. These experiments are 
one way of trying to solve the conundrum in which the need to develop a more advanced 
technology so as to be able to offer an acceptable product or service-and become competitive 
(internationally)—is hindered by a lack of resources. 

China's specialized open sources will become even more available and reliable. Non¬ 
official open-source channels have already provided a good deal of information on sensitive issues 
such as defense, corruption, leadership transition, and central-local relations. The only difference 
is that Beijing has not released this information officially. In the next fifteen years, it is believed 
that China will provide more official information on its nuclear policy, arms sales, military 
production, and political and economic corruption. This situation will have a positive impact on 
US collection and analytical efforts. 

Prospects for Continued Information Flow (or Otherwise) 

China will remain open to the world as long as such openness does not endanger "state 
security," which includes economic, military and political security, and stability. Stability is 
included here because China's definition of security changes and is subject to varying 
interpretations across time. In terms of stability, China tolerates gradual fundamental economic 
and even political transformation, as has happened since the late 1970s. But China also will 
continue to contain dramatic policy shifts that might cause national or regional instability. All 
these systematic-and systemic-changes will influence the availability of information on China to 
foreign analysts. 


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Publications that test the limits of party and government control will face restrictions, 
especially during times of repression, which may be expected to occur periodically. In general, 
however, oblique criticism dispassionately presented by special-interest papers and journals is 
tolerated; explicit attacks on leaders and their policies is not. But, more and more, official efforts 
at censorship are being ignored while the media are moving away from self-censorship and are 
operating in a more free-wheeling environment. It is possible, but not likely, that a stricter post- 
Deng regime could alter this course of openness. For the most part, however, China will continue 
to move forward in making information available. 

Links to modem communications systems are multiplying, first to provincial-level 
administrative divisions, and next to local levels. Provincial-level units are establishing their own 
Internet connections (see The Internet, below). The number of commercial and nonprofit firms in 
the information business both in China and in neighboring countries will multiply, including those 
providing Internet-based services. It is likely that an increasing number of firms in China will 
offer fee-for-service information or subscriptions. The expansion of online services and websites 
within China is only one indication of the growing availability of information about China. 

In the near term, new media sources will proliferate and become more diverse in scope 
and value. A variety of competing publications already provide abstracts on a wide range of 
subjects (see Changes in the Open Source Information Setting, below). Many of these 
publications are aggressively marketed by their publishing bodies-think-tanks and quasi- 
government organizations such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of 
Social Sciences. For example, China Astronautics and Missilery Abstracts (CAMA), which has 
been published since 1994, sells full-text translations of many of its abstracted articles and papers. 
The number of journals electronically published on the Internet and providing full-text translations 
will also multiply (see Internet Publishing, below). 

Although there is evidence of greater openness in information, some areas obviously will 
remain sensitive and subject to restrictions. For example, articles dealing with ballistic missiles, 
aerospace, nuclear-related topics, information warfare, and electronics abstracted in CAMA are 
not accessible to foreigners; neither is Jiefangjun bao (Liberation Army Daily). In some 
instances, sensitive information may not be released except for use in China or only to Chinese 


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users. The overall trend, however, is towards greater availability as evidenced by the increasing 
number of publications available both domestically and for export. Considerable amounts of gray 
literature are also usually available. 

The number of potential open source "reporters"--individual or organizational, indigenous 
or foreign—is increasing. However, it is extremely difficult to quantify the rate of increase, other 
than to note a definite expansion in the overall media capacity-in a variety of formats-to 
generate open source information. This development likely will continue throughout the 2010 
period. For example, China Central Television, the official television network, recently added a 
new program "Focused Interview," which exposes the "dark side of society," local politics, and 
economic activities. An officially sanctioned broadcast, the program has been well received, and 
certainly is an unusual fora for criticism of the government. Among the print media, the PLA 
began publication in early 1996 of a new paper, Zhongguo guofang bao (National Defense Daily), 
from which several articles have been translated by the Foreign Broadcast Information Service. 
The paper seems to be less rigid and more open-minded than Jiefangjun bao and is another 
indication of broader access to military information. 

The July 1997 reversion of Hong Kong to China will likely result in continued-and 
increased—information flow through the 2010 period. Media expansion in a variety of formats- 
both from Hong Kong into China and from China into Hong Kong-will transpire. As discussed 
later in this paper, Hong Kong will remain an information hub although Chinese authorities will 
continue their more recent efforts to try to influence both the policy and content of materials vis- 
a-vis China (see Expanded Internal Information and External Flow of Information; New Avenues 
of Information and Expanded Publication Venues, and Public Media Outlets, Brokers, and 
Distributors, below). The free-wheeling Hong Kong environment will likely withstand restriction 
of the information arena from China's authorities although Beijing already has begun to position 
itself against divergent opinions-for example, by urging greater self-censorship. Nonetheless, 
existing conditions in Hong Kong portend that future prospects for continued information flow 
will not abate. The possibility exists, however, that a mass departure of Hong Kong residents- 
one opinion poll predicts an exodus of between 750,000 and 2 million people (out of an estimated 
population of around 5.5 million)-"if things go wrong" might allow for greater control by 


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Beijing. 9 In this scenario, Beijing presumably would be able to affect some limitations on open 
source access although given all other indications of increased access-even within China—this 
prospect would have limited success. The latter scenario, however, would likely negatively affect 
a growing-and continued information flow-at least in the near term. 

INVESTMENTS, TECHNOLOGIES, COMMERCIAL GROWTH, AND 
INFORMATION ACCESS 

China's Ninth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000) targets the infrastructure. Specific goals are 

the speedy development of telecommunications and information networks and the acquisition of 

emerging high technologies and safe and reliable network operations in order to achieve a 

modernized, national information infrastructure-that is, to create an "information superhighway." 

An average annual growth rate of 20 percent for modernizing the information industry has been 

set for the plan years; the MPT will invest US$60 billion in the telecommunications infrastructure 

during that period. 10 Although the doubling of targets during the Ninth Five-Year Plan will help 

China achieve modernization, it will not be enough. 

The development of China's telecommunications services requires a flexible and forward 

thinking strategy and increased capacity to meet demands. Wu Jichuan, minister of posts and 

telecommunications, noted in July 1995 that "Some departments may establish their own 

networks with approval." 11 Infrastructure development will be accomplished through the 

combination of extending the basic network (what is already in place) and "constant business 

expansion." Accelerated infrastructure construction, however, will have to be accompanied by 

. . . put[ting] forward the strategic task of promoting the informatization for the entire 
national economy.... popularizing] the use of telecommunication and information 
technology and establishing] all kinds of special-purpose information system [sic] in the 
main business operations and macro-economic control agencies. 12 

Although China is making great strides as it attempts to overcome infrastructure obstacles 
in order to address both its present needs and future technologies, improvements will not be easily 
attained. Even as China makes impressive gains in accomplishing modernization, however, it 
faces several fundamental obstacles. First, infrastructure is lacking and obsolete (improvements in 
areas such as power transmission and highways also are targeted). Second, funding remains 


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problematic. Third, technology advances rapidly. 

Beijing's approach to modernization has been both to take intermediary steps and to 
import "leapfrogging" technologies so as to catapult into the era of modem technology. 
Leapfrogging has its advantages. It has allowed China to move from a situation characterized 
either by obsolete infrastructure or a complete lack of infrastructure to a more advanced, state-of- 
the-art situation in the 1990s-without having to expend the usual time necessary for the complete 
process. However, China's approach means that the improvements and capabilities have occurred 
without the benefit of a foundation of technical expertise. As a result, China lacks the knowledge 
base to manage new technologies and hence all new equipment and technologies must be 
accompanied by substantial training packages. 

It is likely that business expansion also means combining government funding with 
commercial enterprises as well as devising "experiments" to circumvent restrictions on foreign 
involvement in the telecommunications and service sectors. In the telecommunications sector, 
foreign companies are limited to sales of equipment; ownership, management, and operations of 
telecommunications services and databanks by foreign enterprises are not allowed. And, as a 
condition of doing business, Beijing encourages foreign investors to establish joint ventures with 
domestic enterprises in the telecommunications sector. Similarly, the China National Posts and 
Telecommunications Industry Corporation, the country's primary telecommunications 
manufacturer, requires that foreign companies transfer their latest manufacturing technologies to 
joint ventures. Although foreign loans for importing telecommunications equipment were 
suspended in the early 1990s, the moratorium was "loosely interpreted" in 1994 and 1995, and 
relaxed in 1996. 13 Nonetheless, it is often difficult to secure financing for such ventures. 14 
Unrestricted foreign involvement in the services sector is not permitted. It is understandable that 
without a legal basis for protection, some foreign firms are reluctant to conduct business in the 
telecommunications and service sectors although some firms do operate outside legally 
permissible boundaries. 

Foreign business leaders are optimistic that as China increasingly recognizes that it lacks 
the resources and expertise to modernize the service and telecommunications sectors on its own, 
bureaucratic obstacles to investments in telecommunications will be modified or even made 


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obsolete. As of mid-1996, a telecommunications law had not yet been promulgated although 
drafting has been proceeding since 1986. Modifications--that is liberalization in the existing 
policy—will have positive ramifications on open source access. 

For large foreign companies such as Motorola (United States), Alcatel (France), and 
Siemens (Germany) that already have established a substantial presence in China, business 
operations are somewhat easier. Smaller companies are more likely to need domestic partners to 
navigate successfully through China's bureaucracy. 

Aside from funding and technology constraints, there are other hindrances to 
telecommunications development and information exchange in China. For example, information 
flow is impeded by the overall variation both in general literacy rates and in computer literacy 
within state enterprises and businesses. In addition, of the officially estimated 2.78 million 
business enterprises that use computers, only approximately 3 percent are believed networked 
(see The Internet and Illiteracy, below). 15 

Improvements in Infrastructure and Technologies 

The Golden Projects, inaugurated in September 1994, is the foundation for China's 
national economic information modernization—the establishment of a National Public Economic 
Information Communications Network. The network's goals are to strengthen central 
macroeconomic policy, that is, regulation and control, by connecting the dedicated 
communication networks of all ministries and commissions under the State Council with 
provincial-level capitals, more than 5,000 cities throughout the country, and approximately 
123,000 large- and medium-sized enterprises (including key state projects) and corporations. By 
December 1995, 24 provinces and municipalities (including Beijing, Guangzhou, Nanjing, 
Shanghai, Tianjin, and Wuhan) were interconnected to the network and were able to access 
integrated data on economic news, current stocks, bonds, equities, and commodities prices, fixed 
assets of foreign loan management, as well as connect to CERNET and CASNET (see The 
Internet, below). By the end of 1996, it is expected that 400 cities in China will be connected. 

Jitong Telecommunications Co. Ltd., established in 1993, is authorized to provide value- 
added services to the Golden Projects through its VS AT network. Jitong is part of the Ministry 


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of Electronics Industry (which is responsible for the production of telecommunications 
components); its shareholders include approximately 25 large state enterprises-such as the China 
National Electronics Appliance Corporation, the Beijing and Nanjing wireless factories, and 
Shenzhen Guohua Trading Ltd.-as well as government organizations such as the Ministry of 
Radio, Cinema, and Television. 16 Jitong has contracted with the Joint Conference for National 
Economic Informatization to build the Golden Projects with China Unicom. 

The projects' three initial components—Golden Bridge, Golden Customs, and Golden 
Card—will establish a satellite telecommunications trunk line network—China's information 
superhighway—and stations for computer networks and electronic post offices. By 2000, 
information telecommunication networks (including a satellite network and a fiber-optic network), 
computer systems (including software), and information resources (including database systems) 
are expected to be completed. 

Golden Bridge capabilities include E-mail, access to online Chinese newspapers and 
serials, remote transmission of documents (FAX), and remote login. 17 Golden Bridge is linked to 
CERNET, CASNET, the State Information Center, and the information centers of the ministries 
of water resources and electronics industry as well as to the Internet in the United States and 
Japan. 18 Jiaotung University in Shanghai, the Shanghai Municipal Economic Information Center, 
and the East China University of Science and Technology are among the organizations with 
investments in Golden Bridge. 

Golden Customs, or Golden Gate, an interconnected private network of foreign trade 
information, will link the information systems of foreign trade enterprises. Golden Customs is 
under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC), 
which will use the network to exchange information between regional- and provincial-level 
departments concerned with foreign trade and economic cooperation, foreign trade organizations, 
related customs, taxation, shipping, banking, and insurance entities, as well as the Customs Office 
and Jitong. As of mid-1996, MOFTEC had communications links between regional facilities and 
provincial foreign-trade-and-cooperation bureaus and was able to collect trade statistics, refund 
taxes to export companies, monitor currency exchange rates, and administer quotas and licensing 
arrangements. 19 


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The Golden Card project involves bank credit cards and electronic currency transfers. It 
will be piloted in coastal cities. 

There are additional offshoots to the original Golden Projects in various stages of 
operations or development. These projects involve agricultural, educational, medical, 
commercial, and business management sectors. For example, Golden Tax targets improved 
information on tax collection and management. 20 Golden Macro-Control seeks to build a unified 
national database containing information on commodity prices, investments, natural resource 
capital, energy resources, and transportation. 21 

Telecommunications Networks 

China's telecommunications system has public networks, satellite communications 
networks, wireless mobile networks, private/dedicated networks, Golden Project Networks, and 
intranet and Internet networks. Intranets, which are closed networks, are domestic computer 
networks under the jurisdiction of a variety of government organizations, extended by 
international linkage to the Internet (see The Internet, below). The MPT's public networks are 
interprovincial, intraprovincial, municipal, local, and rural. By 1997, the MPT plans to offer 
integrated digital network services in major commercial areas such as Beijing, Guangzhou, 
Shanghai, and Shenzhen. China's digital data network and its rapidly expanding VS AT networks 
provide increased access for computer networking. 

In July 1994, the ministries of electronics industry, power industry, and railways (each of 
which has its own private telecommunications networks; the Ministry of Electronics Industry also 
has a significant telecommunications equipment manufacturing capability) jointly set up the China 
United Telecommunications Corporation (also known as China Unicom, Unicom, or Lian Tong) 
to break the MPT's monopoly and compete directly in the telecommunications business (see 
Investments, Technologies, Commercial Growth, and Information Access). A national 
conglomerate, and the MPT's sole licensed competitor, the corporation has shareholders from 
approximately 25 domestic companies, including the China International Trust and Investment 
Corporation (CITIC). Unicom is authorized to offer basic telecommunications services, and, with 
its fifty subsidiaries and cooperative links with more than 200 international companies, has built a 


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global system for mobile communications. 

The communications networks of the various administrative divisions and state enterprises 
have different levels of capabilities. Xiamen, Fujian Province’s largest industrial and port city and 
one of the five special economic zones, has attracted vast amounts of foreign investment. As a 
result, it has China's premier telecommunications network with digital exchanges, packet 
switching services, digital data services, and satellite communications. As of early 1996, Xiamen 
was the site of approximately 2,300 joint ventures worth about US$4.8 billion; Taiwanese and 
Hong Kong enterprises were the primary investors. 

As of mid-1996, China's first experimental technological information network for science 
and technology information came online in Harbin in Heilongjiang Province. The network, set up 
by the State Science and Technology Commission, links government departments, research 
institutes, institutions of higher learning, and various enterprises across Heilongjiang by computer 
via the public data exchange network. The network provides access to more than twenty 
databases, including those with particulars on China's patents, enterprises, and science and 
technology achievements. 

Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, is targeted for development as an international 
information hub by 2010. Wuhan's information industry project will focus on the technologies of 
network, multimedia, database, and satellite telecommunications. The project will computerize 
finance and commerce and construct integrated information networks in residential areas. 

The Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in Guangdong Province began construction of its 
international information city in December 1995. Regarded as the hub for the zone's information 
superhighway, this rapid transmission network for public information will function as a 
consultation service center and information industry base by providing domestic and foreign 
information resources and collecting and distributing information within and without China. 22 

In early September 1996, Xinhua announced that China will install a computer network to 
link all of its military academy libraries to a central database connected to national and 
international computer networks. The database, with information on training and tactics, seeks to 
provide information that will improve modem warfare capabilities. The plan is to have the 
network in place by 2000. An unidentified military analyst doubted global access to the network 


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would be allowed as it would pose too great a security risk. 23 

ChinaNet, ChinaPAC, and ChinaDDN are part of the MPT's national backbone 
telecommunications system; subscribers to the latter two include government ministries, large 
banks, securities exchanges, public security organizations, and universities. ChinaPac, the 
national packet-switched data exchange network, began operations in 1993. By the end of 1996, 
ChinaPac is expected to reach more than 3,600 cities and have 140,000 ports; by the end of the 
Ninth Five-Year Plan in 2000, it will have 200,000 ports. 

ChinaDDN, the national public digital data network, was inaugurated in 1994 and 
extended to more than 1,000 cities in 1995. ChinaDDN is expected to triple the number of cities 
and reach 140,000 ports by 1996 and to serve 300,000 ports by 2000. ChinaDDN is an overlay 
network that integrates other data services. 

China also has a wide variety of private/dedicated networks. These include networks of 
the ministries of railways, electric power, electronics industries, finance, foreign trade and 
economic cooperation, internal trade, and transportation (links to its provincial and city 
transportation administrations and key enterprises); the PLA; the State Information Center; 
meteorology and seismology institutions; central television system; petroleum industry (linking 
major oil fields, petroleum refineries, oil product manufacturers, and research and development 
and academic institutions); civil air services (linking more than 170 cities in China and about 60 
cities overseas); Customs Bureau; Xinhua; the China National Financial Network (a satellite 
communications network linking specialized, commercial, and policy banks); and the China 
National Space Industry Corporation. 24 

The PLA, with its tremendous control over radio spectrum allocation, is another 
telecommunications service provider. The PLA offers commercial cellular services. 25 

Impact on Advanced Industrial and Telecommunications Technologies 

Improvements in telecommunications technologies will result in enhanced capabilities in 
internal and external communications. In turn, this will translate into a greater need for services 
and equipment-for the latter, both hardware and software. The development of servers, 
engineering work stations, microcomputers, industrial-control computers, personal computers, 


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financial use computer equipment, ATM systems, office equipment, peripheral equipment, applied 
software, and integrated circuits will have ramifications throughout China. With increasing 
Internet connectivity and usage, service providers and manufacturers of associated products are 
also targeting increased productivity—and profit—and planning further investments and 
improvements. 

China has implemented several measures that have had an impact in the 
telecommunications sector. In June 1996, the MPT decreased charges for international 
telecommunications services an average of 20 percent; increases in postal fees by 30 percent are 
being considered. 26 The Beijing Long-Distance Telephone Bureau launched IDSN, a new 
telecommunications service, in July 1996. The service, offered via the Beijing International 
Telecommunications Bureau, may make visual image and data transmissions possible between 
Beijing and Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States, Germany, France, and the United 
Kingdom. 27 

Expanded Internal Information and External Flow of Information 

Control of and restrictions on providing certain types of information may tighten, but 
these limitations will not preclude its continuation. It is likely, however, that users costs of some 
specialized data will increase. For example, access to China News Service World Wide Web Site 
is both free and fee-based. Current news can be accessed by paid subscription; free service is 
limited to news items of one week past. This same arrangement also applies, in various forms, to 
other electronic databases. 

Dozens of China-related information sources can be accessed through the Internet (see 
The Internet, below). For example, Renmin ribao (People's Daily), China Daily , Shenzhen 
Newsnet , and Hong Kong Standard have Internet addresses; Tiandao or Twin Bridge software is 
needed to access Chinese-language services (see Appendix). 

After Hong Kong reverts to China on July 1, 1997, it will remain both a regional 
telecommunications and information center and an international information hub. The exchange 
of information between Hong Kong and the rest of China will increase, and it may become 
somewhat easier to obtain information about China in Hong Kong although China has begun to 


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make pronouncements about the Hong Kong media, for example, that might indicate otherwise. 


Investment and Business Information Databases 

The expansion of China's business information databases—in support of the investment 
community—is but one example of the opening of China. These databases provide information on 
investment and business opportunities as well as products and services. Some databases will 
likely continue to be offered only in the Chinese language, but the expansion of English-language 
databases is inevitable. Although business information databases began to proliferate prior to the 
January 1996 restrictions imposed on the use of economic intelligence by foreign financial 
agencies, they clearly target cost recovery and profit. The benefits of providing such information 
no doubt will be weighed against the perceived risk of increased openness. 

• The China Investment Guide Information System database provides information on 
economic plans, foreign investment regulations, laws, contract procedures, and the 
special economic zones. An IBM-compatible database for sale, initially available 
only in Chinese, this system is the product of a partnership between the State 
Information Center Technical Development Division and the China International 
Engineering Consultancy Corporation. 

• The Macro Economic Application System provides macroeconomic data beginning 
in 1949 in a statistical format. Updated every three months with information from 
monthly and annual reports compiled by the State Statistical Bureau, the system is 
IBM-compatible and can be used for forecasting or regression analysis. This 
database is also sold and produced by the State Information Center. 

• The Geographic Information Inquiry System for Investment is a current, 
comprehensive database that aids investment analysis, market research, and 
business decisionmaking. The IBM-compatible system sells geographically 
oriented data-economic and social information from all provinces, municipalities, 
and autonomous regions—as well as from geographic regions such as western 
China and the Yangzi River delta. The system is produced by the State Statistical 
Bureau's Investment Department and the Beijing Qihui Electronics Company, the 
latter affiliated with Beijing University. 

• The Database of Projects for Foreign Capital Absorption and Trade Invitation in 
China is a free service of the Investment Institute of the State Planning 
Commission, the Database and Program Management Bank Department of the 
State Information Center, and the Economy and Law Department of the China 
International Engineering Consulting Corporation. The database contains 


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information on more than 4,000 projects, which can be sorted and accessed by a 
single criterion or a combination of criteria according to region, industry, project 
type, or investment type. Companies wishing to showcase a joint venture project 
are sent a booklet listing business opportunities; if a joint venture is successful, a 
"matchmaking" fee is assessed. 

• The Chinese Enterprises and Companies Database contains records on more than 
80,000 Chinese companies (Chinese version) and more than 20,000 companies 
(English). Listings provide company name, address, financial status, products, 
technology licensing, and joint venture information. The database is updated 
annually; information is obtainable at a set price through the individual company or 
a group of companies. The database is also sold on floppy disk or CD-ROM. 

• The Guangdong Foreign-Investment Enterprises Database sells information by 
sector on IBM-compatible disks, with cost depending on the extent of the data 
requested, or for an entire set of disks. The database, compiled by the Guangdong 
Research Institute of Foreign Economic and Trade Relations, has forty information 
categories for each of the 23,500 foreign-invested enterprises in Guangdong. It 
includes the name of the company in Chinese and English; the rest of the 
information is in Chinese only: address, legal status, products, and bank account 
numbers. 


Technical Information Databases 

The Technical Information System Promotion System of the Institute of Scientific and 
Technical Information of China (ISTIC) disseminates scientific and technical information. The 
Wanfang Data Corporation, a subsidiary of ISTIC, specializes in developing business information 
databases. One such database, the Chinese Appropriate Technology Achievements Database, is 
IBM-compatible and has information on more than 80,000 Chinese technological projects. 

Another IBM-compatible database, the Chinese Scientific Institutions Database, lists 
approximately 5,000 large- and medium-sized scientific and technological institutions, including 
academic and research organizations. 

Other Information Providers 

Another important electronic-access development is a project being carried out at the 
Shanghai Library. The official library of the municipality of Shanghai, the Shanghai Library serves 
as an information and research arm for the Shanghai Municipal Government and thus of the 


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Shanghai Municipal CCP Committee. The Shanghai Library, second in scope only to the National 
Library of China in Beijing, has the largest collection of Chinese-language periodicals in China and 
has been designated by the Ministry of Culture as the national repository for serial publications. 

In October 1995, the Shanghai Library was "integrated" with the Institute of Science and 
Technology Information of Shanghai and the library of the Shanghai Academy of Sciences 
(ISTIS). In 1996, the libraries moved into a new building, which reportedly is fully automated. A 
"Cy-brary" atmosphere is planned for the new building, with LANs, a multimedia network, World 
Wide Web, and ChinaNet and Internet links to other Shanghai and neighboring provincial 
libraries. The library also will be a center for high-speed information exchanges. With its 
reconfigured management mode, the Shanghai Library offers both traditional library services and 
science and "think-tank" services to the municipal government. A full On-line Public Access 
Catalog (OP AC) and CD-ROM versions of rare books are planned. 28 

Of most significant benefit to open-source research is the availability of a pc-based 
product being developed by the Shanghai Library's Professional Work Office in cooperation with 
the Wen Da Information Company, a database company owned by the Shanghai Library. Wen Da 
is developing a CD-ROM index, performs fee-based information retrieval services, and runs a 
bookstore. The CD-ROM index, which is funded by the Ministry of Culture, is derived from an 
electronic database that includes, as of October 1995, some 400,000 articles from nearly 4,200 
Chinese current periodical titles. The project started in 1993 with 1993 publications and plans to 
continue with new publications and, as funds are available, to add retrospective records at least 
back to 1990. Wen Da hopes to add 200,000 items to the database annually. All articles from 
130 key titles are indexed, and selected articles are indexed from 4,000+ other titles. This index 
can give open source researchers an unprecedented ease of access to the largest and most 
important body of Chinese-language serial publications in the world. Instead of issue-by-issue 
screening, open source analysts can search by subject, find their citations, and then obtain the full 
text of the article. Although translation or abstracting must still occur, the time-consuming work 
of screening the original publications is eliminated. Many but not all of the serials covered are in 
the Library of Congress. 29 

In May 1996, Sybase (China) Company and Sybase China Ltd., the Beijing Commodities 


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Exchange, the China Defense Information Center's Database Division, and Hechuang Data 
Communications Technology Co. agreed to implement an Internet-based Sybase database 
information system, China Internet Sybase Information System. Xingye International Network 
Center (PANNET) will provide online information services and be an Internet service provider for 
domestic commercial users. PANNET is an example of cooperation between business and 
industry; it is a joint venture between Beijing Acer Xingye Technology Development Co. and the 
Beijing MPT authorities. PANNET has an independent Internet node. 30 A National Population 
Research Institute Network database supplies demographic information. 

The Beijing Information Infrastructure (BII) is being promoted as a key project for the 
twenty-first century by members of Beijing's Municipal People's Political Consultative 
Conference, who view the BII as a means to develop other high technology industries. Although 
Beijing lags behind China's other major cities in information resources and technology, in 1994 
almost 44 percent of Beijing's total labor force worked in the information industry and almost 42 
percent of the city's gross domestic product was derived from the information industry's output 
value. 31 

Chinese Databank Collection , a national survey of more than 1,000 Chinese databanks, 
was compiled in early 1996. The survey seeks to position the information industry for the future. 

Domestic Investments 

China has sought both to control foreign involvement in its telecommunications and 
services sector and to expand domestic participation. To this end, Beijing has tried to foster the 
internal investment environment. The State Development Bank is responsible for funding priority 
infrastructure projects by using existing state investment corporations to provide a steady source 
of low-interest loans to state-owned enterprises to ensure tighter control of capital investment. 

The bank was founded in April 1994 by merging six investment corporations under the State 
Planning Commission. 

The Great China Telecommunication Co., established by the merger of eight state-owned 
companies, seeks to counteract foreign domination of China's telecommunications market. The 
central government will provide sales credits and research and development grants so as to enable 


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the company to succeed. In exchange for the money, the company must ensure that at least 20 
percent of the program-controlled digital-exchange systems sold domestically are Chinese. 

Foreign Investments 

China's opening since the 1978 economic reforms has resulted in unprecedented business 
opportunities for foreign investments and joint ventures. Because economic modernization 
cannot be achieved without an advanced telecommunications infrastructure, the government has 
targeted the postal and telecommunications sector for massive investment and development, 
providing them with preferential treatment. As a result, capital investment increased at an average 
annual rate of 75 percent in the 1990-95 period. In a bid to further encourage infrastructure 
investments and increase the investment growth rate, in June 1996 China announced 210 key 
projects in communications and infrastructure that were open to foreign investors. Preferential 
tax exemption policies for these projects were established, although localities may draft additional 
preferential policies. 32 However, Beijing expects that 1996 regulations on monetary policy and 
foreign debt will reduce capital investment in 1996 from US$12 billion to US$11 billion. 

The West 

The market for telecommunications products and services is vast—as befitting China's 
geography and population. Numerous sales contracts have been signed for equipment purchases, 
particularly for mobile telephones. (As of mid-1996, China Unicom had 50,000 cellular phone 
subscribers and was operating in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Tianjin; by the end of the 
year, the network will expand to a total of 48 cities with a capacity of 1 million lines.) 

Besides an abundance of sales agreements, there have been many joint ventures. In April 
1996, Motorola of the United States signed a joint venture agreement with China's State 
Intelligence Computer Research and Development Center to establish the Joint 
Telecommunications Technology Laboratory, the first Sino-foreign research institute. The center 
will focus on the development of high-performance telecommunications products for the domestic 
and international market. The partners will split the intellectual property rights on a 50:50 basis. 33 

Alcatel and the Beijing Telecommunications Administration signed an agreement in 1995 


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to build an experimental ATM network for providing audiovisual, multimedia, and high speed 
data transmission services for enterprises, institutions of higher learning, and research institutes. 
(The Beijing Telecommunications Administration is China's first Internet service provider.) 

Japan 

Through overseas Chinese and Hong Kong investors, Japan is the largest capital 
contributor of capital to China, primarily in the form of loans rather than investments. Japan's 
Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund has loaned a total of US$16.8 billion to China for 11 
projects aimed at accelerating economic growth by removing impediments to economic growth 
and supporting sustainable development. The 30-year low-interest loans have a 10-year grace 
period. One such project will enable the State Economic Information System Project to acquire 
computers and consulting services so as to develop and install seven economic information 
systems to collect, supply, and analyze economic data to assist in planning and operating the 
macro economy. 

Taiwan 

Since 1993, Taiwan has been the third-largest investor in China-overtaking the US 
position. Taiwan's capital is in the form of direct investment or projects, not loans. 

CHANGES IN THE OPEN SOURCE INFORMATION SETTING 
New Avenues of Information and Expanded Publication Venues 

New avenues of information from and about China have developed both from the 
increased number of modes and from the increased output from these modes. Satellite 
communications dishes and Internet connection are the most advanced information vehicles. As 
of 1995, China issued 2,000 newspapers and more than 8,000 periodicals, and had 560 publishers. 
Approximately 59,000 new titles were published in 1995. The number of printing factories had 
increased to more than 5,000, 10 times more than that in 1978. 34 For the output of publications, 
see the attached tables. 

The world has entered a phase of technological sophistication in which it is widely 


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believed that governments can no longer monopolize and control information. In other words, 
technology is assumed to have facilitated decentralization and led the demise of governmental 
control. Indeed, with today's unequalled volume of transborder information flow, challenges to 
the control of information dissemination are rapidly emerging. Nowhere are these complexities 
perhaps more apparent than amid the economic reforms and opening policies currently underway 
in China. 

China's mass communication system is designed to enforce uniformity. In both structure 
and philosophy, the system is centralized and hierarchical. 35 Ideologically, the mass media is 
viewed by the CCP as a tool for propagating socialist ideals and executing party policies; the news 
media therefore cannot engage in open debates about these issues. 36 News outlets are expected 
merely to promote official policies and not to cater to consumer needs. 

Traditionally, the party has functioned as the owner and manager in all media realms, each 
of which are staffed by local party members. Each administrative level of the media is supervised 
by a party unit, and all authors, editors, journalists, or other writers typically have been salaried 
employees of the state. 37 Additionally, in certain cities, newswork meetings are regularly held 
between newspaper editors and CCP leaders, further illustrating the close tie between politics and 
the media. 38 

The sale of paper and printing presses has also traditionally been controlled by the state, 
and publishing houses, which have operated under state subsidies since the CCP assumed power 
in 1949, have been of necessity more concerned with producing books that reflect "correct 
thought" than books that might interest the consumer. 39 According to China's "three-tiered 
inspection" system, manuscripts or articles have customarily been reviewed by three party 
members-an editor, a managing editor, and, finally, the editor-in-chief-before being approved for 
production, thereby preventing the publication of any controversial works. 40 This rigorous 
method of inspection also demonstrates the party's strong commitment to the centralization of 
information. 

When China opened itself to foreign investment and implemented a market-oriented 
economy under Deng Xiaoping in 1978, the publishing industry was faced with many challenges. 
The new emphasis on economic development initially compelled leaders to allow the import of 


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foreign publications containing information on economics and technology. Gradually foreign 
publications relating to other areas also were allowed into the country. 

The entrance of foreign electronic publications in the 1980s introduced many English- 
language journals in CD-ROM format. Although the majority of these publications contained 
business or technological topics, reference books and foreign-language dictionaries have also 
appeared. As the influx of these materials has increased, it has become more common for official 
approval to be weighed according to the scientific value of a work, rather than its ideological 
content. 41 

Affected by these economic and social changes, media outlets increased in variety and 
number, which facilitated competition in the publications industry. 42 The rising popularity of 
foreign economic and scientific periodicals, for example, inevitably required that state-subsidized 
publications make certain content changes in order to maintain an audience's attention. 

Among the first measures of this kind were the appearance of shorter, more lively articles 
in Renmin ribao , the official publication of the CCP. Thirty new categories of coverage were also 
introduced into the foray of official news, a vast change from the narrowly focused, highly 
politicized writing on revolutionary themes that had become common in previous years. 43 In 
order to accommodate the expanded coverage of news and economic activities, Renmin ribao 
also increased its size from six pages to eight. 

Many other Chinese newspapers have also expanded coverage to include entertainment, 
sports, humor, and gossip sections. 44 This new material contributes to widening the gap between 
political censorship and free expression in the media. It also provides new sources of information 
on Chinese society. 

The state-subsidized publishing industry was also similarly compelled to succumb to 
market forces. As the futility of attempting to maintain market share solely through the 
production of works deemed politically correct became ever more apparent, state-owned 
publishing houses rapidly turned to sideline production of mass market books and periodicals that 
were distinctively apolitical. 45 In the 1990s, these works have included an array of subjects 
ranging from pornography to the unauthorized biographies of various officials. The government 
continues to officially ban such works, but this effort often serves cross-purposes by arousing the 


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curiosity of the consumer, and thus boosting sales. 

The profit-making potential of these works also initiated the establishment of a multitude 
of underground publishers; in the past, all publishing had been done by registered, state-owned 
companies. These pirate publishers have tremendously complicated control problems for the 
government. In many cases, officially banished books have been reproduced illicitly, subsequently 
reemerging with a much higher value on the black market. Although all books and periodicals in 
China are required by law to bear the registration numbers of their publisher, underground 
printers sometimes simply forge the names and identification numbers of state-owned companies 
onto illegal press runs, making it nearly impossible for government inspectors to trace them. 46 
The profits these works produce often make the risk worthwhile. 

In addition to condemning these profit-seeking publications, in 1994 the party decided to 
continue subsidizing only two national newspapers, Renmin ribao and Jingji ribao (Economic 
Daily). Perhaps in taking this step the party leadership assumed that without financial support 
from the state, maverick publishers could not survive. On the contrary, however, reductions in 
state subsidies have led to the advent of advertising as an alternative means of financial support. 

The greater economic independence this affords the media also enables publishers to make 
decisions about content that are autonomous from those the government has systematically 
outlined. 

There are several new-style and very entrepreneurial vendors of publications in China. In 
the past, US government agencies, academic libraries, and other institutions requiring large 
numbers of publications from China normally obtained them through government agencies, the 
China International Book Trading Corporation, or the China National Publications Import and 
Export Corporation. Economic reforms and opening policies facilitated the establishment of 
government-owned book trading corporations whose managers were given complete 
responsibility for their operations. One such organization is the China National Publishing 
Industry Trading Corporation (CNPITC), which is owned by the State Press and Publication 
Administration. CNPITC operates strictly as a business venture, working on the profit motive to 
provide a full range of publications, including selected gray literature, to foreign purchasers. 

Other such organizations are Guoji Shudian (National Bookstore) and the China National Book 


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Export Trading Corporation. In 1995 China had a total of 32 book export companies, which 
usually deal through CNPITC and Guoji Shudian. Access to electronic publications was not 
expected to be a significant offering by CNPITC, at least as indicated by top company officials in 
1995. 47 

The publishing sector also has expanded its overseas cooperation. The Fujian Provincial 
Publishing Corporation, founded in 1951, owns seven publishing subsidiaries, two bookstore 
chains, two printing factories, and six circulation service companies. The corporation has 
concluded cooperation agreements with publishing houses in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, 
and its representatives have visited book publishers and distributors in countries such as Germany, 
North Korea, Singapore, and the United States. 48 

Some problematic consequences have appeared in the news sector as a result of 
advertising, however. Industries eager to promote their products reportedly have paid media 
representatives to write stories about them, rather than wait several months to have their products 
advertised commercially at more expensive rates. 49 Although the ethics of these arrangements are 
questionable, it reflects the fact that many publications currently in production in China are being 
driven more by economic and social factors than by political forces, as had been the case in the 
past. As state-subsidized publications are increasingly forced to rely on market demand, it can be 
expected that subject-matter will continue to evolve and expand. 

Another large source of revenue in the media sector in recent years has been investment 
from international industries, particularly those based in Hong Kong and Taiwan. One of Hong 
Kong's media conglomerates, CIM, has attempted to capitalize on China's opening market by 
expanding its entertainment bases into the mainland. To this end, CIM has established joint 
venture publishing contracts for Chinese magazines, in addition to purchasing the publication 
rights for particular books and the distribution rights of several newspapers. In order to avoid the 
potential consequences of censorship, CIM strategically implemented its own oversight committee 
to monitor the direction of these publications. 50 This committee is chaired by an appointee from 
China, a compromise which might be expected to avert political problems for the industry. 

The entrance of international investment into the publishing sector has also provided a 
window of opportunity for individuals to benefit from fees earned as private consultants or 


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freelancers. For example, many writers formerly employed by the state have sought independent 
financial means of publishing works with wide appeal on the mass market. Because private 
sponsorship of individuals enables publishers to forego the "three-tiered inspection" required by 
the state-distribution system, the consulting industry is a particularly challenging arena to monitor. 
It is the existence of corporations such as CIM that has facilitated consulting as an option. 

If international industry continues to expand into the media sector, it will create additional 
pressures for the state-subsidized publications trying to stay in business amid growing market 
competition. As these publications are increasingly affected by the forces of capitalism, it can be 
expected that their content will also be required to evolve and expand. In short, as economic 
reforms and opening begin to have an impact in the publishing industry, the parameters for the 
media are becoming wider. This is not to suggest that the bounds of the press have become 
limitless, however. 

As Chinese political dissident Liu Binyan observes, although the past decades of reforms 
have included an unprecedented period of law-making, laws protecting freedom of speech are still 
severely lacking. 51 In fact, the Criminal Law enacted in 1979 and amended during the 1980s 
contains many provisions for punishing any speech deemed officially incorrect. 
Counterrevolutionary speech, insular and slander offenses, false accusation, and false witness are 
all types of speech that can be penalized by the government. These provisions have been used in 
lawsuits by officials against journalists who criticize or reveal the criminal behavior of party 
members. 52 

Even in 1996, the CCP Central Committee Leading Group for Ideology continues to 
direct departments responsible for newspapers and periodicals to continue scrutinizing items 
considered ideologically questionable. Several influential periodicals have been closed down by 
authorities for allegedly printing articles containing what were described as "serious political 
mistakes." 53 It is apparent that, although the incentive has emerged to print anything that will sell, 
publications still must operate within certain parameters. 

Another channel through which the government has been able to impose controls on 
information opened up with the enactment of intellectual property laws. These regulations were 
initially implemented to abate the growing international pressures that were developing as a result 


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of the huge financial losses that foreign investors were suffering as a result of the widespread 
piracy of copyrighted works. Such items have typically included films, compact discs, and 
publications. Although numerous raids on pirating factories have occurred in China in recent 
years, there is evidence to suggest that they are not always undertaken solely in the interest of 
adherence to international standards for intellectual property rights protection. In fact, in the 
United States/China Intellectual Property Rights Agreement, signed in 1995, China commits to 
enforcing intellectual property while also pledging to adopt measures necessary to protect "public 
morals." 54 

In 1996 alone, the Xinhua News Agency reported the confiscation of thousands of books 
that were said to contain obscene or reactionary content. Because these works were pirated, the 
move could easily be lauded both domestically and internationally as being in compliance with 
China's efforts to maintain intellectual property rights standards. Speculation about the potential 
consequences of such action on the development of free press would undermine this praise, 
however. 

The CCP has frequently suggested that the purpose of the current economic reforms is to 
strengthen the party's leadership and supervision. 55 The continued governmental control of 
information flow in China, even amid an unprecedented economic growth, emphasize the inherent 
complexities of this goal. While the publishing industry becomes increasingly autonomous 
financially and hence market-driven, it concurrently becomes more difficult to monitor. 
Nonetheless, China's leadership is clearly demonstrating an interest in preventing the erosion of its 
power base by finding alternative means of regulating the information influx. The media are thus 
faced with the dual challenge of satisfying the market and the party. 

Although it is impossible to accurately predict the future course of China's publishing 
industry, the economic impact of integrating Hong Kong with the mainland in 1997 is certain to 
be significant. Major shifts in the free-wheeling Hong Kong press in anticipation of China's 
takeover are already evident as a result of regulations laid down by Beijing saying that Hong 
Kong publications must support reunification. 

Because of the abundance of advertising revenue in Hong Kong, a media industry has 
developed there that serves as one of the world's major regional centers for entertainment. 


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Publishing is thriving. Because the British-controlled government rarely practices overt 
censorship and there are no restrictions on who may apply for a license to start a publication, 
variety is abundant. Additionally, because no political parties were allowed to exist in Hong Kong 
before 1990, much of the media has developed without a distinctive political orientation. The 
integration of Hong Kong's media realm into China could therefore facilitate opportunities for 
expansion in the mainland. As journalists prepare for China's takeover, however, content and 
style changes are becoming prevalent. 

It is commonly assumed that China keeps dossiers on journalists, and threats made from 
the mainland to the Hong Kong press, in combination with previous singling out of certain 
reporters for printing articles unfriendly to China, have led to a feeling of apprehension among 
publishers and journalists. 56 Many publishers eager to enter China's market or avoid political 
difficulties after 1997 have thus begun to practice self-censorship, in which certain information is 
diluted or omitted in order to avert potential adverse consequences for themselves and their 
organizations. This trend, which has occurred since 1984, makes the adoption of centralized 
regulatory measures by the CCP largely unnecessary. Its continuation could hinder freedom of 
expression in Hong Kong over the long term. 

The Hong Kong media has long been driven by market forces, and as the date for 
integration with the mainland rapidly approaches, investors are keeping a watchful eye on the 
political situation. As the support of the Hong Kong financial base is a necessary component of 
Hong Kong's continued smooth economic integration with China, the CCP's next moves will be 
crucial in shaping the future course of China's economy and, ultimately, the publishing industry. 

Internet and CD-ROM Publishing 

China's electronic publishing industry began in the mid-1980s with floppy discs. There are 
approximately 1,000 different such publications on floppy disks as of mid-1996. 57 

There is a small but rapidly growing body of digitized Chinese-language, social science 
material available on CD-ROM, diskette, and through online databases. 58 Online journals and 
newspapers can be found at multiple sites. The China Electronic Newspapers and Periodicals 
Online Service Center is China's first organization providing online Chinese newspapers and 


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periodicals. Electronic editions included in this service are Guoji shangbao (International 
Business News), Jingji ribao (Economic Daily), Renmin ribao , Zhongguo maoyi bao (China 
Trade News), and Zhonghua Gongshang shibao (Chinese Industry and Business News). A 
telephone dialer and E-mail capability allow foreign and domestic readers immediate access via 
the Internet. 59 (In fact, most Internet users access networks telephonically.) 

There are almost three dozen Chinese-language magazines on the Internet (see Appendix). 
Some of these periodicals require their servers to have a Chinese viewing system. Many of the 
publications are produced by overseas Chinese students and scholars. These magazines include: 

• Xinyusi (Chinese Net Magazine) published by netters on alt.chinese.text; 

• Daqian shijie (Multiworld), a bimonthly multilingual publication distributed via the 
World Wide Web; and 

• Zhonghua pingshu (China Commentary). 

China Infoworld, with a circulation of almost 100,000, is one of China's largest 
publications on computer science and markets. As of July 1996, it is accessible on the Internet in 
English and Chinese editions. 

Some Chinese-language newspapers or journals are available both online and on CD- 
ROM. These publications include Zhongguo jisuanji shijie (China Computer World), Zhongguo 
xinxi shijie (China Infoworld), and Renmin ribao. The official newspaper Guangming ribao 
(Enlightenment Daily) and Yangcheng Wanbao, a leading newspaper from Guangzhou, also are 
putting issues on CD-ROM. 

The Shenzhen SAST Laser Information Company also has published legitimate CD-ROM 
titles, which run under Windows and include a basic text search and retrieval engine. Two of 
these publications are: 

• Encyclopedia ofLaws and Regulations of China compiled by the State Council's 
Bureau of Legislative Affairs; the disc comprises some of the material contained in 
Hong Kong University Faculty of Law's Law-on-Line (see below). [NOTE: The 
Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National 
People's Congress, which sometimes clashes over drafting issues with the Bureau 
of Legislative Affairs, publishes its own competing CD-ROM through the State 
Information Center.] 


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• Database of laws and regulations of China; 

• Database of laws and regulations governing foreign-related matters 
(Chinese-English); 

• Database of explanations of justice of China; 

• Database of judicial precedents in China; 

• Companies of China data from the State Statistical Bureau on 400,000 companies 
in 45 categories (for example, petroleum refining, foodstuffs, textiles, etc.). 

In 1995 the State Information Center (SIC) in Beijing estimated that there were more than 
1,000 databases available from the SIC online, on CD-ROM, or on disk diskette, nearly all of 
them in Chinese. These include: 

• CD-ROM, Fee-membership online (both in China and through Hong Kong 
University's Law-on-Line) and 

• State Laws and Regulations , produced by the Legislative Affairs Commission of 
the NPC Standing's Committee. The 1995 cost was US$ 1,600 for CD-ROM 
version. 

(For Chinese titles and contact information, see Appendix.) 

Information on China is becoming more widely available on the Internet both through 
various newsgroups and listservs and through World Wide Web homepages. These homepages 
include: 

• China page of Australia National University's World Wide Web Virtual Library 
http://coombs.anu.edu.au/WWWVLAsian/China.html). This site provides links to 
the archives of the China News Digest and Hanwen Xinzhai; to library catalogues 
in the mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan; to homepages in the mainland, Hong 
Kong, and Singapore; and to other China-related home pages around the world. A 
particularly useful addition to this site is the beginning of a rudimentary Chinese 
version of Uncover; 

• Chinese Serials Data Base 

(URL:http://coombs.anu.edu.au/SpecialProj/AJC/CHIN/China-jmls.html) is a 
cooperative project between the Australian National University Library and the 
National Library of China that provides an English and pinyin searchable database 
of tables of contents of selected Chinese serials as well as information about the 


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location of the journals. Most of the journals (see Appendix) cover economics, 
law, trade, and investment; and 

Asia-Pacific On-Line (URL: http://lawhk.hku.hk) a commercial service that 
markets the following products 

• Law-On-Line database services of the Law Faculty of the 
University of Hong Kong; 


China Laws and Regulations (updated every 2-3 weeks by the 
Information Center of the Legislative Affairs Bureau of the State 
Council; in Chinese and English). 


Includes 


National Law 

• Legislation from the National People's Congress and 
its Standing Committee 

• Circulars from the Supreme People's Court and 
Supreme People's Procuratorate 

• Selected Supreme Court Cases 

• National Administrative Regulations from the State 
Council and its Ministries 


• Regional Law 

• Index of Legislation and Administrative Regulations 
of all provinces 

• Special Collections 

• Selected important laws relating to foreign investment, 

import/export. 


Public Media Outlets. Brokers. Distributors 
China: Specific Journals as Sources of Information 

Of China's more than 2,000 officially registered newspapers, more than half were founded 
in the 1980s. There also are thousands of magazines that cater to a wide variety of special 
interests from martial arts to arts and crafts to military equipment. There are an increasing 
number of journals published in China (and in Hong Kong) that provide information of great 
importance on a variety of topics (see Appendix, Publishers and Distributors in China; Publishers 
and Distributors in Hong Kong). These journals may be classified as serious, or official 


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publications and are publicly available. The following are some representative journals: 

• Beijing Review - An official Chinese weekly of news and views, available in 
French, Spanish, Arabic, English, and numerous other languages since the 1950s. 

If read systematically over time, Beijing Review can offer useful information about 
China's social, economic, and political development. Information on economics 
and foreign relations is particularly reliable. 

• Bingqi zhishi (Ordnance Knowledge) -- A monthly publication of the China 
Ordnance Society in Beijing, available in Chinese. This journal offers information 
on China's understanding of and knowledge about weaponry, especially weaponry 
from overseas. It also occasionally introduces China's weapons systems. 

• China's Foreign Trade — Published monthly in Beijing in Chinese, English, French, 
and Spanish since 1956. The journal provides rich information about China's 
foreign trade direction and structure. It highlights an economic sector or economic 
region. 

• China Today (formerly China Reconstructs ) — Published monthly in Beijing by the 
China Welfare Institute in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, German, and Chinese. 
The journal contains articles on history, culture, customs, education, economy and 
social development, and includes beautiful color photographs. 

• Guoji wenti yanjiu (International Studies) -- Published quarterly in Chinese by 
World Affairs Press and sponsored by China Institute of International Studies, an 
official institute in Beijing. This journal is highly recommended for those 
interested in China's foreign policy and Chinese perspectives on international 
affairs. Authors are mostly scholars with official affiliations. 

• Hangkong zhishi (Aerospace Knowledge) - A monthly magazine, published in 
Beijing by the Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics, available in 
Chinese. This periodical provides information on aerospace development history 
and current events, both in China and in foreign countries, but focuses more on 
introductory materials than on analysis. 

• Jianchuan zhishi (Naval and Merchant Ships) -- A monthly publication published 
in Beijing by the China Ship Building Society; it is available in Chinese. The 
magazine focuses on the PLA and foreign warships, their development, capability, 
and equipment. The publication includes occasional discussions and analyses of 
foreign and Chinese naval forces. 

• Liaowang (Outlook) -- A weekly Chinese-language publication from Beijing 
covering international news, domestic politics, and economics. Its editorials and 
analytical articles are valuable sources of information on official Chinese views of 


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ongoing issues. 

• People's Republic of China State Council Bulletin — Published only in Chinese 
about 30 time each year; it is issued by China's State Council. The Bulletin 
includes the most important official Chinese government documents, laws, and 
decrees. 

• Social Sciences in China - Published bimonthly in Beijing by the Chinese 
Academy of Social Sciences and also available in English. The articles are of high 
academic quality and concentrate on economics, philosophy, politics, religion, 
literature, linguistics, sociology, and history. The opinions offered are quite rigid 
and follow official political lines. The journal is a static, rather than dynamic, study 
of China's problems. 

• Zhanlue yu guanli (Strategy and Management) — A quarterly publication in both 
Chinese and English from Beijing; started in 1993. A semi-official journal, it 
addresses social, political, economic, cultural, and military issues. The publication 
is sponsored and supported by retired high-ranking officials, generals, and think- 
tank analysts. This publication plays an important role in China's think tanks, 
which also have a major role formulating current government policy. 

• Women of China — Published in Beijing monthly; available in English. This 
magazine carries articles on women in the arts, sports, and other social and 
political activities. It offers a positive and narrow view of Chinese and national 
minority women in history and today. 

• Xiandaihua (Modernization) — A monthly publication, sponsored by the China 
Science and Technology Association; available in Chinese. The journal provides a 
comparative perspective on Chinese and Western modernization, current events, 
science and technology, personnel, and commentaries. It reflects new social and 
philosophical changes in contemporary China. 

• Xiandai junshi (Conmilit) -- A monthly publication by Contemporary Military 
Publishing House in Beijing, printed in Hong Kong. This journal, which focuses 
on the most advanced military development in China and foreign countries, 
analyzes weapons systems, technologies, military tactics, and strategies. By 
reading this journal carefully, readers will be able to sense how the Chinese assess 
their military power and development and how they plan to meet the challenges 
from stronger powers. 

• Zhongguo fangyu (Chinese Territory) — Published bimonthly and sponsored by 
the Institute of Chinese Administrative Divisions in Shanxi Province; available in 
Chinese. This magazine carries articles on administrative divisions and place 


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names in China. 

• Zhongguo junshi kexue (Chinese Military Science) — A quarterly 

publication of the PLA Military Academy since 1988. The contents of this 
journal include basic military theory, defense construction, military 
development, strategy and tactics, military technology, defense economics. 

There are also several hundreds ofx uebao (college/university journals), such as Beijing 
daxue xuebao (Beijing University Journal), Nanjing daxue xuebao (Nanjing University Journal), 
and Zhongshan daxue xuebao (Zhongshan University Journal). These journals are often of high 
academic quality; most are in Chinese. 

These above-mentioned open publications have existed for years and will continue to be 
valuable sources. Although the Chinese government has routinely promulgated new regulations 
to control the nature and scope of these journals, China has gradually become more open and 
flexible as far as the content of these publications is concerned. The differences are easily noticed 
when one compares 1990s issues of Beijing Review with 1970s issues. The publication has kept 
its official style, but since the early 1980s issues have been more informative and interesting than 
were the former issues, which contained mostly propagandist^ articles. 

As China moves toward a market system, the economic situation causes benefit-driven 
publications to meet the new information demands of readers. If readers are able to get 
information from outside-that is, from foreign journals—then they will not subscribe to domestic 
Chinese publications and the latter publications will fail. Thus, publications in China must catch 
up with what the market demands and provide increasing amounts of information on more diverse 
subjects. 

Whether or not the total number of journal publications will grow in future years is 
uncertain. Faced with rising costs and stiff competition, some publishers will have to withdraw 
their publications. In addition, because of a shortage of financial backing, it is difficult for new 
journals to emerge. 

Nevertheless, in terms of the availability of open sources, the number of current journals 
published in China is overwhelming. Publications must first be translated, however. The Foreign 
Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) has been doing an excellent job of obtaining and 


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transferring information from Chinese into English. However, with FBIS downsizing and the 
plethora of Chinese-language sources available, a large number of translators or analysts capable 
of reading Chinese will continue to be needed in the future. 

Asia-Pacific Region: Journals 

In the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong has been and will continue to be the most 
important port for open source information. There are many Beijing-supported newspapers 
published in Hong Kong that are much more open and informative than the newspapers of the 
mainland. Among others, Wenhui Bao often carries important and timely policy information from 
Beijing that is not disseminated in the mainland. There are also dozens of publishers, distributors, 
and brokers in Hong Kong (see attached lists), that will very likely continue after Hong Kong 
reverts to the People's Republic on July 1, 1997. 

One institute in Hong Kong serves as a case study. 60 The Hong Kong Social Sciences 
Services Center publishes Chinese Social Sciences Quarterly and China Book Review. The two 
publications carry high quality articles contributed by outstanding scholars in China and overseas, 
covering subjects from history, culture, society, politics, to economics. Recently, its affiliated 
Hong Kong Institute of International Relations, previously named the Hong Kong Institute of 
China and the World, was established. In 1996, the institute began publishing a semmiannual 
academic journal, China and the World , that focuses on international relations and comparative 
politics. There institute has about ten researchers. The chairperson for these activities is Xu 
Zerong; all publications and staff living expenses are self-funded through private businesses, 
churches, and individuals. Xu, a doctoral candidate at Oxford University, is in charge of fund¬ 
raising and management of all research activities. 

It is worth noting that the staff, and editors of the center and institute publications are 
open-minded liberals, but maintain close ties to mainland China. Such people have found that 
Hong Kong provides a free atmosphere for their publishing work. Beijing regards these 
intellectuals as "liberals," but not necessarily subversive and therefore tolerable. This toleration 
may be an example of the compromise that both liberal intellectuals and the central government 
have been searching for. If the compromise continues after 1997, institutions and publications, 


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such as those now in Hong Kong, will continue to serve as a bridge for the information flow 
between China and the outside. 

A similar scenario also applies to Taiwan. Since 1987, the mainland and Taiwan have 
increased exchange activities of all kinds. Publications on China have mushroomed and will 
continue to increase. Among these publications are Zhongyang ribao (Central Daily News), 
Lianhe bao (United Daily News), and China Times. Reports on mainland China in these 
newspapers constitute at least half of their total news coverage. Taiwan also is a good source for 
pirated information from neibu publications on the mainland. As with mainland publications, the 
bias of Taiwan publications must be taken into consideration. 

Western Sources 

The following are China-related publishers, distributors, and wholesalers in the United 

States: 

• Cheng and Tsui Co., 25 West St., Boston, MA 02111 
(617) 426-6074. 

• China Books and Periodicals, Inc., 2929 24th St., San Francisco, CA 94110 
(415) 282- 2994. 

• China Publishing Co., P.O. Box 342, Seal Beach, CA 90740 

• China Research, 1500 NW 103rd Ln, Coral Springs, FL 33071 
(305) 752-6274. 

• China West Books, 160 Belhaven Ave., Suite B, Daly City, CA 94015 
(415) 755-3715. 

• Chinese Literature Press, distributed by China Books and Periodicals, Inc. 

• China National Publications Imports & Exports Corporation (Beijing Book Co. 
Inc., 701 East Linden Ave, Linden NJ 07036. 

In response to increased economic and cultural exchanges, China will likely set up more 
outlets or distributors in the United States. The number of bookstores or distributors, however, 
does not necessarily reflect the amount of information that flows from China. China may consider 


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it more efficient to open additional bookstores and distributors in Hong Kong or simply in the 
major cities of China because of financial limitations. Thus, publishers and distributors in China 
may be the main access point for our information search. 

Radio and Television 

Radio 

Radio was the party's natural socialization vehicle in the earliest days of the People's 
Republic. It is comparatively inexpensive, its audience does not require literacy, and broadcasts 
can be easily modified to local dialects and minority group languages. According to government 
statistics, wire broadcasts reach 95 percent of the population and more than one in 10 citizens 
have radios of their own. 

The Central People's Broadcasting Station (CPBS) controls China's national radio 
network; stations are under the supervision of each local area's Bureau of Radio, Cinema and 
Television. CPBS supplies programs to the entire country; provincial and local stations 
supplement the central news with local reports. CPBS also broadcasts programs for minority 
groups in the Korean, Mongolian, Tibetan, Uygur, and Kazak languages, as well as programs 
directed toward Taiwan and overseas Chinese listeners. Programs include much of the same fare 
as television: general news and cultural and educational programs, weather, sports, music, 
language lessons, and other didactic programs. Radio Beijing broadcasts to the world in 38 
foreign languages, various dialects and subdialects, including Mandarin (putonghua ), Amoy 
(Xiamen Hua ), Yue (Cantonese or Yue), and Hakka (Kejia). English-language news programs 
are aimed at foreign residents in China and other countries. Medium-wave, shortwave, and FM 
stations reach 80 percent of the country. Some 240 radio programs are broadcast on more than 
500 radio, relay, and transmission stations. 61 

In the early 1990s, radio tried to regain the influence it had lost to television by adding 
call-in shows, a relatively new, nonofficial source of information. These shows began to be 
broadcast in major cities in 1992-93 and are especially popular on local radio stations, which, 
along with television stations, became more numerous during the reform period. 62 Call-in shows 
are favored fora for topics ranging from daily life to legal affairs to consumer complaints. This 


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innovation has changed radio performances from "we speak, you listen" to "you speak, we listen." 
A news director has pointed out that it is easier for radio stations than newspapers to avoid 
censors: 

If a reporter at Wenhui bao or Jiefangjun bao wants to write a critical article 
about a company, then first he has to show it to the company. Then the company 
will get to work and soon the critical article will be turned into a tribute. We're on 
the air before they can stop us. 

Monitoring radio broadcasts offers insight on what China listens to--whether or not the 
programs contain officially sanctioned material. Of particular interest, however, is information 
that can be gleaned from broadcasts that are outside official programming. Given continued 
openness, it is likely that the latter category of programming, will continue to provide open source 
information on a variety of topical matters through 2010. 

Television 

China has the world's largest television audience. Television largely supplanted radio in the 
late 1980s because of its visual appeal, novelty, and greater availability. According the Ministry 
of Radio, Cinema, and Television, China had approximately 5 million television sets in 1979 and 
250 million sets by 1995. Most families in major cities own their own television sets, and they 
watch television frequently. In 1993, there were 115 television sets per 100 urban households and 
69 sets per 100 rural households. 

China Central Television (CCTV), the state network, broadcasts nationally; provincial 
capitals and other large cities have their own stations. CCTV, which was established in 1958, 
produces its own programs, a large portion of which are educational. The network manages the 
country's television programs and supplies 120 hours of programming per day to more than 90 
television stations throughout the country. CCTV has eight channels, six of which transmit via 
satellite nationwide; one of the channels is beamed to more than 100 countries. 

The Television University (TVU) in Beijing produces three educational programs weekly. 
The English-language lesson is a popular program. Other programs include daily news, 
entertainment, teleplays, and special programs. 63 

CCTV and TVU television programs reveal what the government considers acceptable 


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program content but do not reflect public opinion. Nonetheless, officially sanctioned programs do 
provide another window of information on China. 

To a growing degree, foreign cable channels and satellite television are penetrating China. 
Cable television and satellite dishes allow for readily accessible programming from Hong Kong, 
Taiwan, and Japan. Foreign programs reveal what is popular among Chinese audiences. These 
programs include films, sitcoms, and cartoons that may-in the long term-influence Chinese 
public opinion or at least changing tastes in popular culture. 

Cable television has become increasingly fashionable, and cable systems have proliferated. 
Domestic cable systems are found not only in large cities but also in county seats and among 
military units. Official sources reported that by 1995, there were 32 million cable television 
subscribers in China and estimated that there will be 100 million subscribers by 2000. 64 As of 
mid-1996, foreign cable companies still were denied direct entry into the China market since it is 
part of the services sector. Nonetheless, officials from various foreign companies are optimistic 
that the regulations will change by the end of the decade. 

The government has tried to limit the susceptibility of the populace to the political and 
commercial intervention of foreign media. Personal satellite dishes, which began proliferating in 
the early 1990s, allow their owners to receive foreign-origin programs. The dishes are nominally 
illegal but continue to be used. In October 1993, Premier Li Peng announced a new law restating 
the ban on satellite dishes. Its major effect, however, seemed to have been to increase the cost of 
the dishes, since sellers had to take steps to conceal their stocks and to pay larger sums to the 
police to ignore them. 

Access Strategies 

Ground 

"On the ground presence" is probably the best strategy for information access. "Ground 
strategy" refers to receiving information through direct orders and subscriptions to a variety of 
journals, or through personal contacts. It is more economical and efficient to capitalize directly 
on open source information than to go through intermediaries. Given the wide availability and 
variety of open sources, there is no reason to depend mainly on intermediaries. 


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Print media, Internet, radio, and television provide rich literature and timely information 
for access. Information can also be collected by contacting special organizations or by attending 
their conferences, where the information is not only fresh but also well analyzed. For example, 
the numerous Chinese students and professional organizations in the United States, include at 
least seven well established academic associations: Chinese Environment Society, Chinese 
Economists Society, Chinese Historians in the United States, Association of Chinese Political 
Studies, Chinese Association for Sciences and Technology, Chinese Academic Link, and 
Association of Chinese Professors of Social Sciences in the United States. These organizations 
hold annual conferences and publish studies in their fields that are an important window for US 
China watchers. 

There are various ways of implementing the "ground" strategy. Conventional means such 
as interviews and translations are still valuable. However, basic computer communication skills 
have become increasingly important. For instance, a researcher should know how to access a 
library's online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) and retrieve bibliographic information using a 
personal computer. Analysts can access the Beijing University library from Washington, for 
example. 

Intermediary 

"Stand-off via intermediaries" is a supplementary strategy. The "stand-off strategy, 
involves contacting intermediaries before reaching information destinations. Researchers can, for 
example, hire a Chinese agency to collect certain economic data. Or, one can contact experts for 
unique information. Of all the available strategies, however, the "ground" strategy is perhaps the 
best approach. The intermediary method should be used only when gathering rare and non-open 
source information. 

Mix 

A mix of "ground" and "stand-off strategies is generally necessary. In most cases, the 
"ground strategy" should be applied when the general availability of information makes this 
strategy economically efficient. But for specific information, researchers should resort to a 


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"stand-off strategy" as early as possible, especially if they anticipate problems obtaining 
information. In this situation, the use of an intermediary can save both time and money. 

Prospects and Impact 

The strategies proposed above should well serve the US government's open source 
collection efforts through 2010 and probably beyond. The general increase of open source 
materials and improved access to such materials suggests that the "ground" strategy is the most 
reasonable primary means of obtaining information from-and about-China. This method, 
however, requires improved Chinese and major minority language skills on the part of researchers, 
as much of the increasingly available material is in Chinese and other languages. The combination 
of more analysts proficient in Chinese language and greater access to information will enhance 
both the collection and analytical efforts of the US government. If the ability to access 
information destinations directly is compromised or information is unavailable in open sources, 
intermediary methods will have to be applied. 

Information Costs 

Increase 

The costs of obtaining material on China are increasing. There are several reasons for an 
increase in information costs. When a new information technology emerges, the cost is high 
because investors and companies need to cover at least their basic costs. The cost will also rise 
because of the need to purchase books and other materials, including new computers and 
software. In recent years, the price of Chinese books has increased; that also will add to the cost. 

In addition, information costs respond to economic trends. High inflation leads to high 
information costs. In this case, the exchange rate between US dollars and Chinese Renminbi is a 
relevant variable. 

Decrease 

Information costs fall if the above indicators go in a different direction. For example, as a 
piece of information technology becomes more widely used, the cost becomes less and lower 


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inflation favors stronger purchasing power. In order to lower costs, researchers should depend 
more on the "ground" than on the "stand-off' strategy, as explained in the previous section. 

Specialized Data 

Availability and Current Restrictions 

There is a great deal of information available on China, even on specialized subjects such 
as subversive literature, defense planning data, defense conversion, crime and corruption, 
criticisms of state economic plans, criticisms of relations with foreign countries, and central-local 
relations. In this regard, two publications, one official and the other unofficial, are strongly 
recommended. 

The official data set is Zhongguo tongji nianjian (Statistical Yearbook of China), 
published by the State Statistical Bureau in Beijing. This bilingual (Chinese and English) 
yearbook series covers the most important statistical categories in areas such as natural resources, 
population, employment, investment, energy, finance, price indices, livelihood, cities, agriculture, 
industry, construction, transportation, postal and telecommunications services, domestic trade, 
foreign economic activities, banking and insurance, education, sports, public health, and social 
welfare. 

The unofficial volume is Zhonggong nianjian (Yearbook on Chinese Communism), 
published in Taiwan. This volume provides both data and analyses on important information 
absent from Beijing's yearbook. Such information includes Beijing's Taiwan policy, defense 
modernization, foreign policy, corruption, and personnel changes. Taiwan's yearbook is available 
only in Chinese. 

The information in the two yearbooks covers almost every important development in 
China. The value of these yearbooks is their comprehensiveness and consistency. 

Restrictions on specialized data are predictable. For example, the details of China's 
defense budget are not published. The information on this subject provided in Taiwan's yearbook 
and in other Chinese and non-Chinese publications leads only to confusion and uncertainty. China 
published a report similar to a Defense white paper for the first time in November 1995. The 
paper, entitled "China: Arms Control and Disarmament," covers totals of defense expenditures but 


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lacks detailed information and convincing analysis. China has also prohibited overseas 
subscription of Jiefangjun bao although anyone can purchase this newspaper within China. The 
monthly pictorial, Jiefangjun huabao (Liberation Army Pictorial), was once restricted, but now is 
available to foreign subscribers. 

Open Source Processing 

Translation 

Starting in September 1996, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs will no longer offer 
English-language press briefings. Foreign reporters are expected to learn Chinese. 65 This is just 
one signal that translations will continue to be an important source for China watchers in the 
United States. Translations provided by the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) and 
those put out by commercial presses, such as M.E. Sharpe, are extremely useful. These services 
should be maintained at the existing level. However, as the flow of native Chinese information 
increases, more translations will be needed if US government analysts are to process all the 
information necessary to accomplish research tasks. There are more Chinese-speaking (and 
reading) individuals in the United States today than ever before. Many are highly competent, 
well-trained scholars now involved in academic, government business, or freelance research. The 
US government needs to better employ this rich talent in the future. 

Analysis 

It is imperative to analyze gathered information, including translations. Comparing 
different sources and opinions is a first step. To master the changing situation in China, for 
example, US analysts should compare English-language news reports with translated Chinese 
sources. Solid analysis must be based on broad literature review. 

Historical analysis is also necessary for a sound analysis of Chinese affairs because of the 
complexity and depth of current affairs in China. A historical perspective also assists analysts to 
filter out superficial or oversimplified information. Historical trends are more important than 
isolated news-grabbing events. American historians of China usually have a deep understanding 
of Chinese history and can provide the government with the necessary historical perspective. 


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Without taking a comparative and historical approach to the study of China, analysts will 
not be able to manage the complicated research job that faces them. 

Capabilities Needed 

Some pundits have predicted that China will disintegrate politically by the end of this 
century or early next century. On the contrary, evidence about China suggests another fifteen 
years of steady growth. In light of this assessment, at least three research capabilities need to be 
strengthened. 

The first is language. The Chinese language capability of the United States government, 
although at a higher level than at any previous time, is seriously disproportional to the rapid 
growth of China as a world power. Chinese-language learning and training should be a priority 
for the United States in the coming decades. (Registrations for Chinese-language study in 2,700 
two- and four-year colleges and universities increased 36 percent from 1990 to 1995.) 66 
Programs funded by the National Defense Education Act and similar programs are essential to the 
next generation of analysts. An enhanced language capability will bring about greater use of 
information coming directly from indigenous Chinese literature, a valuable source of information. 

The second capability needing strengthening is general knowledge about China, including 
history, culture, politics, and economics. Some studies on China are superficial and misleading, 
partly because of an author's lack of a broad education in the field. Other studies are highly 
detailed, but their analyses are not placed in a broad historical context. 

The third capability is knowledge of technology. The early part of the twenty-first century 
will be a different world, and the computing medium will bring about a situation where commerce 
and technology merge into a symbiotic whole. 67 Social scientists need to know how to access 
information in the new world. 

THE INTERNET 

According to a Chinese source: 

The Internet in China still lacks sophistication. Although more and more information 

centers under State departments are linking their database to the Internet, most worldwide 

Internet users want more basic information from China. 68 


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The Internet can be viewed as a combined communication and information utility-one that 
is beyond the financial reach of the ordinary Chinese citizen. This situation might change 
considerably if the utility were completely subsidized by the government or if world industry 
subsidized Internet as a free utility through massive online advertising. Of course, the sensitive 
issues of government control and cultural values would then become exacerbated, making 
government resistance to more widespread access to the Internet likely. 

Internet was introduced to China in 1987 by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' (CAS) 
Institute of High-Energy Physics (IHEP). At the time, Internet access was accomplished through 
a low-speed dedicated line. The institute officially connected with Internet in 1993—initially to 
key research centers, businesses, the CAS, and technical universities. International connectivity 
was achieved in 1994 when the CAS Network Center (CASNET) and the IHEP established links 
with Internet nodes. Public access was introduced in 1995 by the United States Sprint 
corporation. 

The information highway is taking hold and making rapid advances in China. Although 
external links remain limited in terms of number and capability, internal networks—intranets— 
continue to expand; both networks are hindered by technology and funding constraints. As of 
mid-1996, there were more than 190 networks registered with the country code CN (China). 
Nineteen of these networks are self-defined Internet service providers. 69 In 1996 China had seven 
dedicated lines for Internet connectivity. 

It is clear that the Internet is becoming an indispensable tool at higher education 
institutions; the majority of users are from academic and research institutions although dissidents 
and overseas Chinese also are heavy Internet users. Internet allows scientists and engineers to 
correspond by E-mail and to make publications and software available anywhere in the world. 
Academic networks at institutions of higher education are the centerpiece of current Internet 
activity in China. The influence of the Internet is likely to be very small on education below the 
university level, however. In addition, it is unlikely that the Internet will have impact outside 
government, university, and commercial sectors in the near future. 

Government organizations such as the State Statistical Bureau, the State Information 
Center (as well as local information bureaus), China International Travel Service, Xinhua, and 


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stock exchanges in Shenzhen and Shanghai are preparing databases both for free and commercial 
access over the Internet. Demand for Internet services is outpacing capacity. Although the MPT 
controls the only international gateway, the market for information services continues to expand. 
Licensing of Internet service providers is one means of checking unsanctioned growth. 

As of late October 1996, Beijing continues to take a cautious and dual approach to the 
electronic information highway. Growth of the Internet infrastructure is encouraged and access is 
expanding. Simultaneously, however, use is subject to limitations. For example, in August 1996, 
the government approved opening Internet service to the public, recruiting Chinese users, and 
building more networks. The Beijing Telegraph Office was authorized by the Beijing Municipal 
Telecommunications Administration to develop ChinaNet service (see ChinaNet, below). Service 
is usually available to customers two days after applications are accepted. 70 Approximately 50 
percent of Beijing's 6,000 ChinaNet users are private citizens; the remainder are Chinese 
enterprises and science and technology research institutions, foreign diplomats, or foreign-funded 
companies. 

In early October 1996, Reuters reported that Beijing Municipality launched a campaign to 
promote understanding and use of the Internet. Advertisements in various media, such as 
newspapers and television programs—as well as in shopping centers—and large "Internet" signs 
displayed at post offices, are evidence of this new direction. There also has been increased 
competition between Internet service providers. 71 These moves can be viewed as the 
government's way of accepting the inevitable spread and increased use of the electronic highway. 

Intranets, on the other hand, also are being promoted. Intranets allow the government 
greater control of the information highway as they are able to restrict access into the systems. 

One means of encouraging intranet use is its inexpensive fee structure compared to the more 
costly Internet. Another example of government support for intranets is the fact that while 
Guangdong Province was denied approval to build an international link to the Internet through 
Guangzhou, work on GNET, the provincial intranet, continues. 72 (GNET, a multimedia visual 
information network of Guangdong Province's Posts and Telecommunications Bureau, was 
established in 1995. GNET has county-level nodes in Dongguan, Foshan, Guangzhou, Nanhai, 
Shantou, Shenzhen, Zhongshan, and Zhuhai. GNET will extend to 23 (telephone) networks 


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within the province by the end of 1996.) 

The denial of Guangdong's link to the Internet has been viewed by some analysts as an 
attempt to obstruct cross-border information access to Hong Kong. Further, there is also an 
information-infrastructure rivalry between the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and the rest of 
Guangdong. As illegal cross-border Internet traffic has been noted between Hong Kong and 
Shenzhen, the refusal to extend the Internet is likely an attempt to inhibit such free information 
exchange. 

GNET is not directly linked to the Internet although its hardware and software use 
Internet protocols. GNET primarily provides Chinese-language news and educational material. 

Its users are predominately businesses, but the number of individual users is increasing. As an 
intranet, GNET is much less costly than ChinaNet. GNET users do not need to register with the 
public security bureau unless they request Internet access. 73 

Overall, since late 1995, government measures have attempted to limit and control access 
to the Internet (see Control Mechanisms: Restrictions and Access, below). Of CERNET, and 
CASNET, and ChinaNet, only the latter is open to the general public. Further, these computer 
gateways commonly have software capable of determining the source and destination of 
information, a feature that allows the government to review information. The required 
registration for Internet users also allows the government to know who is using the Internet. 
Computer analysts note, however, that although China's regulations can prevent access to certain 
information and sites, there are various ways of circumventing the blocks. 

Despite the government's policy of limiting and controlling Internet access, in actuality, 
Internet access appears to be increasing. In May 1996, China Internet Corporation Limited 
(CICNET, a Hong Kong-based organization of China's official Xinhua News Agency), and GNET 
"officially linked up" to promote information exchange. (CICNET provides subscribers with 
diversified commercial information services through the Internet.) In October 1996, it was 
reported that CICNET has established an online service for businesses. The service, "a highly 
secure, highly reliable intranet," will supply approved news items from Xinhua and will block 
subscribers from numerous World Wide Web sites, for example, those operated by US news 
agencies and human rights groups. 74 This service is another example of the government's dual 


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approach to the information highway--an attempt to restrict access to sites that provide 
information considered controversial and potentially subversive-- and the use of new channels to 
gamer revenue. 

In July 1996, Gansu Province opened its "node of the State's scientific and technological 
information network of the Internet." The Gansu node is Internet's key link to northwest China. 
E-mail, document transfer, and remote registration are available. 75 

In addition, domestic press reports note that Internet is a part of daily life and an 
increasingly popular source of information among Chinese intellectuals. 76 Sales of personal 
computers continue to rise-so much so that sales in 1995 of 1.1 million units totaled the 
combined 1993 and 1994 volume. As the number of families buying personal computers for use 
at home increases, Internet usage will likely expand beyond intellectual exchange. 

China has three categories of online service providers: the national and regional public 
Internet offerings of the MPT; private-use ministerial online services; and competitive Internet 
operators. The latter sector is market oriented and serves business and residential users on a for- 
profit basis. The private-use ministerial online services, however, have the most subscribers. 77 
Competition between the MPT and non-MPT providers has resulted in lowered prices. 

Networks 

ChinaNet 

In November 1995, China's MPT, Zhongxun Communications Development Ltd. (directly 
supervised by the China Posts and Telecommunications Industry Corporation), and Asialnfo 
Computer Network Inc. signed an agreement to build ChinaNet (or Chinanet), China's branch of 
the Internet. 78 The commercial data transmission service of the MPT, ChinaNet is connected with 
ChinaPac and ChinaDDN and is managed by the MPT's Data Communications Bureau, a part of 
the Directorate General of Telecommunications. China DDN and ChinaPac both transfer data 
and serve as platforms for Internet services (see Telecommunications Networks). ChinaNet seeks 
to become one of the world's largest Internet systems. 

ChinaNet has links to metropolitan area networks domestically and to Internet 
internationally, extending to all provincial-level units and serving an unspecified number of 


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subscribers in more than 200 cities. International links are from Beijing and Shanghai, its first two 
nodes. As of mid-1996, ChinaNet had 31 backbone nodes covering 30 provincial-level 
administrative units and eight management centers; connectivity to all provincial-level capitals is 
expected by the end of 1996. ChinaNet will ultimately provide Internet access to approximately 
360,000 state enterprises and 8.6 million private enterprises in 600 Chinese cities and link them to 
the major international networks. 

In July 1996, it was reported that Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, had invested 
more than US$24.1 million to establish a citywide node on ChinaNet. Jinan is the first city to 
connect to ChinaNet since Beijing and Shanghai connected in 1995. 79 The network has 1,500 
subscriber terminals. 

ChinaNet also has connectivity to the major academic and research institutions and the 
National Library of China in Beijing and to sites providing information on tourism in major cities 
and foreign-funded enterprises and their service networks. ChinaNet services are available two 
days after an application is accepted. 

Subscribers can access a wide variety of information from domestic publications, such as 
Renmin ribao and Market , to foreign publications, such as the New York Times and Liberation 
[Paris] (see Internet Publishing, below). Monthly subscription fees are US$12 for six hours of 
online usage and US$72 for 40 hours. 80 

China Education and Research Network (CERNET) 

The China Education and Research Network (CERNET) was initiated and is managed by 
the State Education Commission. It was established at Qinghua University in 1994 to link higher 
education institutions. CERNET has three levels: a national network, eight regional networks, 
and campus networks. CERNET information resources are categorized according to university 
information, information on technical/specialized topics (including water resources and a law 
database), information on international sports events, information for the general public (including 
tourism and recipes), libraries with HTML interface, electronic magazines, and mirror sites for 
many popular web sites in other parts of the world. 

The first phase of CERNET was targeted for completion in December 1996; it was 


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finished one year ahead of schedule, linking more than 100 universities and other academic bodies 
to CERNET and Internet. By the end of 1996, all provincial-level capitals are scheduled to have 
access through nodes at Beijing and Shanghai. By 2000 it is planned that CERNET will connect 
all schools—from the primary level through universities—as well as other education and research 
entities. The effort to expand the use of computers and to attain local area networking of 
approximately 25 percent of 900,000 schools by 2002 (11 million personal computers) is being 
led by the State Education Commission. CERNET offers various types of online news, 
educational database searches, scientific and technological indices, and E-mail access. 81 

CERNET's Administration Board, composed of government officials, is responsible for 
policy. Documents on management regulations, network safety management, and users’ 
regulations have been issued. A Technical Board plans, designs, implements, and updates 
CERNET. 82 CERNET relies on state and local funding as well as other sources. 

Other Information Networks 

The Shanghai Educational and Research Network (SHERNET) was inaugurated in 
January 1996 at Shanghai Jiaotong University. SHERNET links Fudan University, Shanghai 
Jiaotung University, six other institutions of higher learning, and two municipal education 
commission offices. 83 

There are other information networks. The Chinese Academy of Sciences Network 
Center (CASNET) operates the National Computation Facilities of China Network. With 12 
regional branch academies, CASNET has connections to more than 100 research institutes. 
CASNET provides management information systems, multimedia systems, scientific database 
searches and E-mail. 84 The State Education Commission has a dedicated Internet connection to 
CASNET as do the Beijing University of Chemical Engineering and Jitong Corporation. 

The State Information Center Value-Added Network (SICNET) opened an Internet 
access service in January 1996. SICNET has cooperative, exchange, and interactive channels 
between China's public enterprises and the world. The information centers of various provinces, 
municipalities, (nine) ministries, commissions, and bureaus provide coverage. "Unauthorized 
republishing is not permitted." 85 Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai are already linked up; 400 


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additional cities are targeted. SICNET provides economic news-such as financial quotations and 
market information—and other online services as well as E-mail access. 86 The monthly 
subscription fee is US$360. 

Beijing On-Line (http://www.bol.co.cn) is an Internet service with 600 web pages and 
more than 1,000 photographs. Beijing's largest Internet online information service, it provides 
information on science, technology, entertainment, books, and weather. 87 

Web sites are proliferating on a daily basis both in the academic and government sectors. 
For example, Beijing On-Line provides information on science, technology, entertainment, books, 
and weather. There are sites at Beijing, Nankai, Qinghua, and Tianjin universities. Government 
organizations such as the China State Information Center, the China S&T Information Center, and 
the CAS Institute of Zoology also have their own web sites, as do provinces such as Gansu and 
Jiangsu. 

The expansion of the Internet has also led to the establishment of information-network 
training schools. The Internet Training Center is sponsored by the State Science and Technology 
Commission's Information Institute, IHEP, and the MPT. 

E-Mail 

Use of "public electronic mail boxes," or E-mail, constitutes the greatest share of Internet 
traffic in China— almost 75 percent of China's Internet users. E-mail messages are transmitted 
over internal networks established by some of the larger corporations, national ministries and 
organizations, and various institutes of science and research. These organizations are also linked 
to more than twenty overseas organizations. E-mail is also sent through the existing 
telecommunication network of Chinamail and the Golden Bridge E-mail System (GBES), which 
renders specialized electronic mailing services (see Improvements in Infrastructure and 
Technologies). 

E-mail was first introduced in China by the Beijing Telegram Bureau and the Shanghai 
Long-Distance Telecommunication Bureau in October 1992. The following year, there were 700 
E-mail users in China. It is expected that there will be more than 100,000 users at the end of 
1996, and Xinhua has predicted more than 1 million Internet users by 2000. 


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The China Academic Network (CANET), a subscriber E-mail network co-founded in 
1986 by the Beijing Institute for Computer Applications and the University of Karlsruhe in 
Germany, was registered in 1990. CANET seeks to integrate China's academic communities with 
the worldwide computer network and promote information exchange and technical cooperation- 
initially via E-mail. 

Golden Bridge E-mail System (GBES) supplies specialized electronic mailing services to a 
wide range of users and is part of the National Communication Network of Public Economic 
Information. Beijing Email Co., Ltd. w as established in March 1993 as a joint effort of the GBES 
and several related organizations. The company specializes in developing and operating GBES. 
Beijing Email is building an electronic mailing sendee network-that is, the Golden Bridge 
Project—for promoting broader use of E-mail in China (see Improvements in Infrastructure and 
Technologies). 

The Internet and Illiteracy 

In 1978, the government's "Instructions on Eradicating Illiteracy" proposed a timetable for 
eradicating illiteracy. Between 1977 and 1990, approximately 49.2 million illiterates were taught 
to read and write, and during the 1990-92 period more than 10 million individuals became literate. 
The 1990 census revealed that out of a population of more than 1.13 billion, 180 million people 
still w r ere illiterate. Of those illiterate, approximately 22.3 percent were age 15 or above, and 90 
percent were from rural areas, of which 70 percent were w omen. 38 

The distribution of illiterates reflects disparities in geographic, economic, and social 
conditions. Rural, predominately geographically isolated areas with poor infrastructure have the 
most illiterates and are the slowest areas to show' improvements in literacy. These areas are also 
the least likely sites for Internet activity as they have small communication markets and require 
large investments in infrastructure, which would have little offsetting revenues compared to 
investments in areas with actively growing enterprises. Even with state subsidies, satellite links 
for rural networks in China may be too expensive to support, and wiring every' village and 
township is financially prohibitive. 

The likelihood of an illiterate person using the Internet to learn to read and write is slight. 


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There are less expensive and more effective ways to learn elementary reading and writing skills, 
such as via TVU-type services. In addition, there is also the very real problem of language-based 
differences and incompatibilities with the Latin alphabet-based Internet. 

English is the dominant language of the Internet. This so-called "language imperialism" is 
an issue that will be only partially overcome with technology. As of mid-1996, a Chinese¬ 
speaking Internet user must learn the English language to take full advantage of the educational 
resources it provides. It seems unlikely that China's government would impose the additional 
burden of learning a foreign language for this purpose on illiterates. 

Control Mechanisms: Restrictions and Access 

Although the Internet is relatively new to China, China is a pioneer in the regulatory field. 
Regulations beget more regulations. Laws restricting Internet access are targeted in particular at 
international computer links. In August 1995, the MPT announced that China would tightly 
control the flow of information into the country. Since December 1995, constraints in general 
have increased. A December 1995 joint decree of the party and State Council warned that lack of 
control over the Internet would lead to the introduction of pornography and other "harmful 
materials"—that is, political information. 

A January 1996 Jingji ribao [Beijing] article provided the context for further limitations 
on Internet use. It noted that a US Army officer allegedly used Internet to break into a 
confidential military information system, erase important military information, and enter 
misinformation into the system. The officer's exploits serve as a warning: "One can destroy 
through Internet a country's military command system without firing a single shot." 89 

On January 23, 1996, State Council Order Number 195 promulgated the 17-article "PRC 
Interim Regulations Governing Management of Computer Information International Networks" 

(or PRC Computer Data Network Internet-Access Management Interim Regulations); the 
regulations were signed and became effective on February 1, 1996. The regulations discuss 
improving the management of China's computer information networks-which are noted as 
"infrastructure useful for the spread of information for China's economy "-and links with 
international networks to ensure the development of computer information exchanges. However, 


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the regulations are restrictive rather than constructive—providing for increased official control of 
access to the Internet, and allowing the government to better monitor the exchange of 
information. Under the regulations: 

• the MPT will select the channels for China's international connections to computer 
information networks and manage general computer networks; 

• the Ministry of Electronics Industry will supervise the networks of computer 
companies; 

• the State Education Commission will oversee the computer links of higher 
education institutions; and 

• the CAS will administer the computer networks concerned with scientific research. 

• organizations applying for Internet nodes must be legally constituted, have proper 
equipment and technical staff; flawless safety and security control measures, and 
other unspecified conditions that comply with relevant laws, rules, and regulations. 

• individuals and organizations involved in activities that threaten public order, state 
security and secrets, as well as those with obscene and pornographic materials are 
expressly banned. 

Less than two weeks after the regulations were signed in February 1996, the Ministry of 
Public Security issued a circular, "Notification of Registration of Computer Information Systems 
Accessing the Internet," "urging" the approximately 40,000 Internet users of international 
networks to register at public security departments at the country and prefecture levels-for a fee 
of 400 yuan—within thirty days of being connected and to inform the same departments if they 
change their hook-ups or disconnect them. If these users do not comply, they face punishment 
according to the Regulations on Protection of Computer Information System Security. 

In May 1996, the State Council issued "Provisional Regulations for the Management of 
International Networking with Computer Information Networks of the PRC." These regulations 
clarify rules in the domestic online service industries and markets so as to favor the development 
of domestic online industries for government, business, and educational Internet services (putting 
residential users of the Internet on hold); to channel international Internet sources through strictly 
regulated domestic access for connectivity; and to criminalize sending pornographic and obscene 


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materials through the Internet. The MPT has "urged" the data communications office(s) of 
several provinces to improve the management of ChinaNet and establish subscribers' files. 90 

In August 1996, China attempted to further tighten its control over the Internet by 
blocking access to as many as 100 sites on the World Wide Web. Major United States media sites 
such as the Cable News Network and The Washington Post as well as sites providing information 
on Taiwan and Hong Kong were banned. The Amnesty International home page also was 
blocked from access. These restrictions can already be bypassed; academic networks (CERNET 
and CASNET) are free from the blocks imposed on the commercial networks and persons using 
overseas access numbers are unlikely to be affected. Moreover, industry analysts believe 
increased traffic on the Internet will make blockage increasingly unfeasible. 91 

Another method of controlling Internet services is cost. User fees are high—particularly 
for a scholar (see ChinaNet). Moreover, Beijing is investigating the use of fee differentials based 
on statistical records of usage, for possible future implementation. This may be another means of 
restricting access. Further, financial resources are needed to obtain the equipment needed to 
access Internet. As a result of these monetary considerations, most Internet users are those who 
have access to computers at their places of work—which pay the user fees. An additional problem 
is the limited availability of computer time. 

The question of controlling the Internet—that is, restricting the accessibility of and 
censoring types of information-continues to be a concern of China's leaders. In fact, the director 
of the CCP's Propaganda Department visited Singapore (a model of control over the press) in July 
1996 to gather ideas on screening out unsuitable material. Singapore's controls seek to 
"...monitor activities in cyberspace that it believed could undermine its political and social 
stability"; the same motives would apply to China. 92 

Nonetheless, the proliferation of online service industries because of market demand has 
caused "a kind of chaos...." Despite government attempts at restrictions, there is a "lack of 
overall market regulations over almost all aspects of development: national planning, construction 
of new data communications infrastructure, technical standards, domestic interconnection and 
operation management. 

Additional regulations to ensure greater information security and stricter controls on 


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access and usage of the Internet will continue to be promulgated. For the short-term, the rules 
will inhibit private-use, ministerial, and competitive online service providers because they must 
obtain permission from the State Council to establish a new Internet network. The existing 
competitive online service networks not regulated by the MPT, Ministry of Electronics Industry, 
State Education Commission, and CAS will be examined closely in terms of market performance 
and service quality. 94 

Network security and information security are major topics in network design and daily 
operation. Firewalls and access lists have been established on different levels to improve network 
safety. In June 1996, China's first domestically developed Internet firewall products, Taliet 1.0 
and 2.0, were certified. The products were a joint venture between the Beijing Institute of 
Electronic Technology Applications and Beijing Tianrong Xinjimao Ltd. 95 Regulations on 
firewalls have not yet been promulgated, but it is likely that they will be, and that they too will be 
problematic for enforcement. Technology changes faster than the government's ability to monitor 
traffic. And, if there is a financial gain to be made from postings on the Internet, it will occur and 
likely face competition. All these factors will lead to more availability of information. 

In another example of increased access, the National Library of China and IBM will 
cooperate in putting the library's books on the Internet. The Illustrated 500 Arhats, a four- 
volume manuscript of illustrated Buddhist scriptures drawn in the early twentieth century, will be 
digitized. The wealth of information that is the National Library will then be available through the 
Internet. 96 

Impact on Internal and External Communications 

The Internet is providing increasing amounts of information on twentieth-century China, in 
English as well as in Chinese. The nature of that availability is, however, uneven. Servers go off¬ 
line, home pages move, some information is free while other information is not. 

A large number of professionals from China in both the hard and social scientists have 
been trained in English-speaking countries. Many of those in the scientific and engineering elite of 
China's academic institutions and organizations thus have the benefit of English as a second 
language and hence can easily use the Internet as a tool for obtaining a wide variety of open 


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source materials. 

One very important source of technical information is the large number of journals 
published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) that will soon be online 
to subscribers. IEEE journals are recognized internationally for their high quality. In general, as 
more scientific and technical publications become accessible on the Internet to their electronic 
subscribers, they will become the primary avenue of open source information. There are 
thousands of scientific papers, technical reports, economic reports, and electronic preprint 
(eprints) available on the Internet. Most are in English, although a growing number of papers and 
technical reports are also available in German and French. 

Thus, for China, the use of Internet is fraught both with advantages and disadvantages. 

The catalogs of thousands of libraries, including the Library of Congress, can be accessed online 
with any Internet browser. The large number of technical and scientific articles available in 
postscript and other formats is enormous. Moreover, these articles are free of charge and 
available for copying and distribution. Websites in China can add value by providing basic 
domestic data, such as information on tourism and investment opportunities, in hopes of gaining 
revenue. For example, the Fujian Fair for International Investment and Trade, an annual event 
since 1987, and scheduled for September 8-12, 1996, will be posted on the Internet. Participants 
from provinces, ministries, and commissions as well as outside investors attend the fair. 
Nonetheless, websites can also be potentially threatening--as a means of accessing information—or 
putting out information that the government views as subversive. 

The Internet is also a valuable tool for improved internal communications. An August 14, 
1996 China Daily [Beijing] article chronicled using Internet's search capability for student 
enrollment purposes. Two administrators from the Beijing People's University of China used 
Internet (via Windows and Netscape) to access a computer system in the Guangxi Zhuang 
Autonomous Region's Enrollment Office to download information on-and then select for 
admission-from among the most-qualified applicants majoring in science. 97 This remote access 
allowed the administrators to accomplish in hours what previously had taken days-both in terms 
of travel time and manual selection. 


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Scenarios for Control 

Although there are political, social, and economic news databases about China available 
free of charge on the Internet, many of the same databases also are structured for fee-paying 
customers. There are more restrictions on the receipt of information for free users. One such 
limitation is on the date range both for access and search capabilities. 

The two initial regulations targeted at controlling the Internet were issued in 1995 in quick 
succession, separated by only a two-week interval (see Control Mechanisms: Restrictions and 
Access). This fact may be indicative of two things: first, that the "big picture" of restrictions 
targeted at the information explosion may not have been fully understood, and second, that 
enforcing such restrictions and controlling the information environment is very difficult. 

In early September 1996, the power of the Internet became evident when calls were 
posted on electronic bulletin boards for student demonstrations two weeks hence to protest 
Japanese actions on the Diaoyu (Senkaku) Islands. As a result these postings, Beijing witnessed 
massive demonstrations. Subsequently, government officials again moved to limit access to the 
Internet. Computer technicians were ordered to monitor the Qinghua University computer 
bulletin board and delete offending materials. The bulletin board at Beijing University was 
closed. 98 

It is likely that central oversight of the Internet will continue; what is unclear is to how 
great a degree enforcement will prevail. The unique trait of the Internet is that it nullifies 
geographical distance and time in a way that is impossible for standard broadcast media. The 
future of the Internet in China will depend upon whether or not Beijing accepts the Internet as a 
distributed medium for global publication and communication that is similar, but more far- 
reaching than print, movies, radio, or television. It is likely that use of and access to the Internet 
in China will continue to be available through 2010 to those who can afford it or to those who 
have access through academic or business connections. Intranets, however, will continue to be 
the government's preferred electronic medium as they allow greater opportunities for control. 


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OPEN SOURCE INFORMATION: RESTRICTIONS OR LIBERALIZATION? 

Leading Information System Institutions 

From an institutional perspective, China's mass media are part of the propaganda system, 
which includes the Ministry of Culture; the Ministry of Radio, Cinema, and Television; the State 
Press and Publication Administration; Xinhua News Agency; official central newspapers; and 
other organizations and publications. The entire system is under the jurisdiction of the CCP 
Propaganda Department. 

The most important institution in the non-economic information system is the Ministry of 
Radio, Cinema, and Television. It disseminates both news and propaganda and serves as an 
administrative body for the nation's radio, motion picture, and television industry. The ministry 
has ten functional elements: Office Department; Chief Editorial Office; Film Industry 
Administrative Bureau; Social Management Department; Personnel Department; Planning and 
Finance Department; Science and Technology Department; Foreign Affairs Department; Security 
Department; and Education Department. 

The Xinhua News Agency is the largest news agency in China and serves as the main 
provider of daily information, both domestic and overseas. It has a staff of 7,000 (4,000 in 
Beijing), including 300 reporters, editors, and translators. Xinhua has domestic bureaus in all 
provincial-level units, throughout the military, and in Hong Kong and Macau. Its 92 subbureaus 
cover the Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Africa, and Middle East." 

Thus far, Xinhua has no real competitors with the same power of news collection and 
distribution. Zhongguo Xinwen She is just another official agency that gives news briefings to 
foreign counterparts. But, if China institutes deeper political reforms within the next ten years, 
more competitors in this arena will emerge, which in turn will provide greater access to 
information. 

Advocacy of Restrictions 

The structure of China's information system itself demonstrates its nature and status: it is 
centralized and has no autonomy. Assessment of China's policy of restrictions and liberalization 
must start from this point. 


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The state and the party control the media, the main source of information for China's 
citizenry. The primary official newspaper is Renmin ribao, which is under the direct control of 
the CCP Central Committee. The editor-in-chief is a party appointee who must be approved by 
the top leadership. Editors or reporters who violate basic party lines are removed immediately. 
Renmin ribao is an important source of information because it always carries the earliest official 
pronouncements on China's domestic and foreign policy. It also regulates the contents and style 
of other official newspapers. 

Each CCP provincial-level committee publishes a newspaper. For example, Jiangsu has 
Xinhua ribao (New China Daily), Guangdong has Nanfang ribao (Southern Daily), Shandong has 
Dazhong ribao (Dazhong Daily). Major domestic and international news coverage in these 
newspapers resembles that of Renmin ribao. Other pages carry local news reports. 

The more useful and accurate the news, the greater the government control. Traditionally, 
this is the case because of political sensitivities. There is a wide variety of internal media 
documents, including, in ascending order of secrecy and restriction, Cankao xiaoxi (Reference 
News), Cankao ziliao (Reference Information), Neibu cankao (Internal Reference), "red-head 
reference" ( hongtou cankao ), and Shouchao wenjian (Hand-Copied Documents). Neibu Cankao , 
for example, is restricted to cadres at the department or provincial levels, and to military officers 
at or above the division level. "Red-head reference" is so called because its headlines are in red. 
"Red" publications are restricted to CCP Central Committee members and certain other top- 
ranking provincial officials. These materials are restricted because their contents contain state 
secrets, politically subversive or sensitive information, or negative reports on the Chinese 
leadership. 

The State Press and Publication Administration, a ministry-level agency established in 
early 1987, was created to tighten administrative supervision of the press. This organization has 
promulgated detailed regulations governing newspapers' registration, operation, and content. The 
regulations were adopted in December 1990 and publicized in early 1991. In addition to 
instituting specific bureaucratic requirements and procedures, the regulations have formally 
enshrined the preeminence of party control over the press. In the early 1990s, the government 
considerably increased its checks on journalists. As of November 15, 1990, all journalists were 


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required to obtain PPA press cards, for example. 100 

In mid-1991, in a move to exert further control, a special central "information office," 
which is under the State Council, was established to supervise propaganda aimed at foreign 
audiences. The creation of the office allowed for a more coordinated and specialized scrutiny of 
the assembly and dissemination of material for foreign audiences. 101 

As of 1996, official control of information has extended to business and economic sectors. 
At the policy level, in April 1996, Sun Jiazheng, minister of radio, cinema, and television, said that 
by 2010, China will have promulgated a radio and television law and a motion picture law that 
will provide a backbone for current regulations. 102 The law will establish an administrative and 
legal system to enforce regulations for the radio, film, and television industries. 

In April 1996, China issued a seven-chapter, 25-article "Methods for the Exercise of 
Administration over Publication in China of Economic Information by Foreign News Agencies 
and Their Information Subsidiaries" to govern the release of economic information in China. 103 
According to these regulations, the publication in China of economic information by foreign news 
agencies and their information subsidiaries, including joint venture companies and companies of 
sole proprietorship and their commissioned or agent companies, is subject to unified regulation by 
Xinhua News Agency. Publication in China of economic information by entities and their 
subsidiaries is subject to examination by and approval of Xinhua. 104 In this regard, Chinese 
authorities are viewed as motivated by economic benefit. The director of the State Press and 
Publication Administration, Yu Youxian, has also said that his department would tighten controls 
over China's diverse and excessive media and eliminate small newspapers. 105 

Also in April, China banned foreign media representatives from visiting orphanages, 
nursing homes, welfare centers, psychiatric hospitals, detoxification centers, forced-labor centers, 
prisons, and other institutions. 106 The assumption was that these facilities might yield sensitive 
information to prying foreign media. China will likely maintain this prohibition as long as foreign 
visits are perceived as hostile. However, China may take some small steps and effect subtle 
changes that would render it more open and receptive to talking about the human rights situation 
and slightly more tolerant vis-a-vis human rights and certain types of foreign visits by 2010. 

In June 1996, the Ministry of Radio, Cinema, and Television issued a circular calling on all 


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radio, television, and cable television stations to strengthen their management of radio and 
television broadcasts so as to improve their overall quality. The circular also urged increased 
censorship over all broadcasts. Programs were ordered to be conducive to "reform, development, 
stability, and socialist spiritual civilization and suitable for China's national conditions." They also 
must benefit the psychological and physical health of juveniles. 107 

Last and perhaps most important, the Ministry of State Security stepped up intelligence 
surveillance on foreign nationals after a record number of state secrets were leaked in 1995. It 
was reported in March 1996 that 380 state secrets were obtained by foreign intelligence agents or 
businesses in 1995. Of these, 182 were classified as "top secret" or "secret." According to the 
report, the secrets were not leaked by Chinese sources but were the result of foreign espionage. 108 
The ministry claimed that Japan and the United States were the most aggressive in collecting 
China's secrets; Taiwan was also noted for gathering Chinese economic and military information. 
China expelled at least four foreign diplomats in 1995 for allegedly spying on China's military 
installations. In highly publicized incidents, three US military officers and a Japanese colonel were 
expelled. 109 

China's leadership remains conservative despite its "opening" policy. As of mid-1996, the 
central government had tightened its control over political propaganda and education. The 
importance of politics has been highlighted several times by President Jiang. As a result, all 
aspects of society, including the information system, are subject to political influence. Unless the 
government institutes comprehensive political reform, this type of political profile will continue to 
be China's political legacy. At the present time, radical political campaigns or movements are 
nonexistent. 

Liberalization 

The premises and protocols of China's mass communication system work in several ways. 
Upon close scrutiny, observers discover that not only does China's news apparatus exhibit far 
more flexibility in reality than on paper, but there is also a tendency for liberalization to coexist 
with the restrictions-and to be sustained over time. This situation will afford greater 
opportunities for the US government through the 2010 period. 


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The media control system has never been as inviolable as the authorities might wish; even 
secret documents at the top level have been subject to leaks and transmitted to the public. Rigid 
concepts and practices in journalism have proved dysfunctional, and adaptability and flexibility 
have become essential to the maintenance of the system itself, especially since the beginning of the 
reform era in the late 1970s. 110 

At an institutional level, economic reform and sociopolitical experimentation have 
interacted synergistically; the expansion of China's media marketplace in terms of number of 
outlets and variety of programs has spurred journalistic competition and responsiveness to the 
public demand; and reduction of state subsidies and the rise of commercial financing have 
necessitated seeking means of greater economic independence, which in turn have laid the 
groundwork for more professional autonomy. 111 This trend of tying media expansion to the 
marketplace is unprecedented. 

China's open policy since 1978 has brought in foreign investment and foreign 
correspondents and ideas. A new generation of journalists in China, who are in contrast to their 
docile and conforming predecessors, have begun to experiment with new perspectives and 
techniques. 112 Increasing numbers of scholarly journals and popular magazines carry independent 
and sometimes critical views, as well as fresh information. Cable networks are reaching more 
remote areas, although rural citizens still fall behind urban citizens in their access to diverse 
sources of information. A new nonofficial and popular source of information is the radio call-in 
talk show. Such programs provide fora for various voices and opinions from the public. All these 
"counter-traditional" efforts have enriched and liberalized China's daily life to an extent never 
previously experienced. This trend may further influence the open source information 
environment in the long term. 

In addition, China has undertaken measures that will provide greater open source access 
and information over the next decade. The following are the planned or ongoing projects: 

• Since the mid-1980s, China has begun to develop a Chinese-language computer 
system for personal computers. It has also introduced various kinds of Chinese 
sequence platforms. Many companies, including IBM, and Microsoft, have joined 
the effort. 113 

• The China Guoxin Information Corporation (CGIC), under the State Planning 


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Commission and the State Information Center, provides economic and market 
information to clients and publishes the weekly China Business Focus. The 
publication is distributed via Fax or E-mail. 114 

• The Posts and Telecommunications Administration of the Nei Mongol 
Autonomous Region has received US$10 million in loans from Finland and Israel 
to construct a new optical fiber cable project. Completion of the project will 
enable the region to offer digital telephone services for most communications 
activities and will lead to great improvements in transmission efficiency and a 
substantial increase in the capacity for telecommunications services. 115 

• In December 1994, UPS became the first express delivery company to link with 
the Shanghai Customs Electronic Digital Interchange (EDI) system. In April 1995, 
UPS was linked with a similar system operated by Beijing Customs. 116 

• On May 16, 1995, British Telecom announced the founding of a representative 
office in Beijing. 117 

• In June 1995, the China Foreign Transport Group (CFTG) and United Parcel 
Service (UPS) of the United States announced plans to establish a joint venture in 
order to meet the international parcel shipping needs of Chinese clients. 

• In July 1995, the Beijing Telecommunications Administration and KDD of Japan 
opened a special fax network that integrates high-speed data lines with computer 
control and storage technologies. 118 

• In April 1996, US-based Business Week joined the State Council's Development 
Research Department in sponsoring the International Economic and Business 
Forum. During the forum, the magazine celebrated the tenth anniversary of its 
Chinese-language edition. 119 In May 1996, Guangdong-Nortel, a subsidiary of 
Northern Telecom Limited (Nortel), opened a new manufacturing facility, with an 
annual production capacity of 3 million telephones, in Shunde City, Guangdong 
Province. 120 

• Motorola of the United States launched a new digital mobile telephone service in 

1996 in both Chinese and English to meet the demands of Chinese users, who rank 
third behind the United States and Japan. The new cellular mobile telephone 
services enable users to select either Chinese or English. 121 

• China Telecom counted 5 million mobile phone subscribers by the end of May 
1996, just behind the leading company, AT&T. The number of China Telecom 
subscribers will reach 18 million by 2000, far ahead of any other company in the 
world. 122 


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From a technical perspective, China may have taken these measures to improve the 
infrastructure. In reality, however, these information developments have offered China new 
avenues to the outside world and, in turn, have increased the availability of information about 
China. 

Leadership and Policy Shifts 

China's leadership is currently composed of a group of political technocrats who hold 
political positions but have had scientific or technical training, and whose orientation typically can 
be both practical and conservative. Political observers also have described the leadership as a mix 
of "liberals" and "conservatives," that is economically liberal and politically conservative. Because 
central power is collectively shared by top leaders, many people have called China's leadership 
weak compared with previous strong individual leaders such as Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. 

President Jiang Zemin, who concurrently serves as secretary general of the CCP, is in the 
center of the political spectrum and probably best represents the overall nature of Chinese politics. 
Premier Li Peng, a Soviet-trained engineer, is commonly viewed as a hardliner in all aspects, 
economic and political. Chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee Qiao 
Shi, chairman of the National People's Political Consultive Conference Li Ruihuan, and minister of 
foreign affairs Qian Qichen are considered reformers and liberals. All of these men are members 
of China's top organ of authority, the CCP Political Bureau. Chinese leaders and scholars may 
not agree with this Western analysis of China's political picture, but the above description of the 
leadership presents one way of thinking about China's complicated internal political scene. 

As a caveat, it must be noted that it is extremely difficult to predict which leaders will 
advocate information restriction or liberalization since thus far, the personnel reshuffle has not 
been delineated and is subject to constant reconfiguration and modification. As a result, the 
outcomes of various alternatives and what this portends for the US government is uncertain 
although it can be postulated that successors who advocate more open policies will opt for greater 
access to information while a more conservative leadership will seek to restrict and regulate the 
open source environment. 

It is unclear in mid-1996, for example, exactly which major leaders will be elected by the 


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CCP's Fifteenth National Party Congress to be held in fall 1997. It is reasonable to believe that 
Jiang Zemin will be reelected as the general secretary, perhaps also being given the title of 
chairman of the CCP. 123 Mao Zedong created the title of chairman in 1935 and held it until he 
died in 1976. It is difficult to assess the genuine political meaning of this title change from general 
secretary to chairman, but it can be assumed that Jiang wants to boost his individual power with 
this old and honorific title. The return of the previous title of chairman would also suggest that 
China's leaders, such as Jiang, would likely emphasize a level of authority that former leaders 
Deng Xiaoping and Zhao Ziyang had tried to reduce and separate from state functions. Such a 
political "left" turn would have immediate impact on China's information system because Jiang 
would be likely to tighten at least his personal control of political information. 

Jiang cannot be labelled as a conservative or advocate of restrictions on information 
simply because of his quest for the title change. However, when Deng Xiaoping encouraged rapid 
economic growth in 1992, Jiang was silent, an action that implied his disagreement. His personal 
leadership style has been inclined to centralized rather than decentralized authority. Yet, he also 
favors economic reform and modernization in general. It also has been reported that he prefers 
non-military actions toward Taiwan and the peaceful settlement of other international disputes. 
Jiang is definitely not a ultranationalist. He has often emphasized the significance of China-US 
relations, is receptive to Russian overtures, and has made frequent trips to Europe. He believes 
that the world is interdependent and that China should integrate into the world system. As for his 
lobbying for the party chairmanship, the purpose is perhaps aimed at finding a new way to 
consolidate his personal power against other political rivals. 

Li Peng, who by law must step down as premier in 1997, is also a factor in the future of 
China's information system. If he gets the upper hand in the Fifteenth National Party Congress, 
which is unlikely, he would likely centralize all domestic economic and political powers, take rigid 
positions toward Western countries, and make it more difficult for information exchange between 
China and the outside. It can be expected that Li will continue to hold power in some capacity for 
some years and remain as a spokesman for hardline and conservative interests. But it is also 
possible that Li will be forced to retire and take a nominal position such as vice chairman of the 
CCP. In that case, a more "liberal" premier would support a reasonably open information system, 


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thereby enhancing access for US analysts and policymakers, at least in the short term. 

Qiao Shi, Li Ruihuan, and Qian Qichen are considered more liberal-minded advocates of 
reform and opening to the outside world. Qiao has quietly pushed ahead legal reforms and 
strengthened the power of people's congresses at all levels. Some see him as the hope of China's 
democratization. But Qiao is also a competitor for power with Jiang and may lose his power after 
the Fifteenth National Party Congress. However, shared power between Jiang and Qiao would 
contribute to a more flexible political/information system. 

Li Ruihuan, an outspoken statesman, has earned a reputation as a staunch supporter of 
economic and political reforms. He is one of the few top leaders who has suggested reversing the 
verdict on the June 1989 Tiananmen incident. But Li is also a strong nationalist, particularly on 
the Taiwan issue. He should be able to retain his power and may even be promoted to a higher 
position. A typical technocrat, Li would likely advocate a more advanced information system but 
also tighter political control. 

Qian Qichen is an accomplished diplomat both at home and abroad. He suffered great 
humiliation in 1995 when the United States granted Taiwan president Lee Tenghui a visitor's visa 
only a few days after US Secretary of State Warren Christopher had told him that Lee would not 
be allowed in for such a visit. But it seems that China blamed the United States rather than Qian 
for this diplomatic failure and he survived severe internal criticism. Qian is likely to retain 
political power after 1997. As a liberal-minded internationalist, he is likely to make further 
contributions regarding access to information and US-China exchanges. 

If Jiang Zemin and other yet-unidentified reformers make up the core leadership at the 
Fifteenth National Party Congress, it can be expected that China will have a more open 
information system. Some conservatives will continue to hold key leadership positions but will 
not be able to reverse the slow but steady process of the liberalization of information access. This 
situation will present the United States with continued opportunities to exploit a greater variety of 
open source information through the 2010 period. 


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Next Generation of Leaders 

National Priorities 

China's national priorities are clearly mapped out by the top leaders and published in 
various open-source materials such as newspapers, journals, or special documents. In 1973 
China announced the four modernizations (industry, agriculture, defense, and technology and 
science) as its long-term national goal. These goals are still sought by today's central government. 
However, open sources have demonstrated that the government also has stressed other national 
priorities in addition to the four modernizations. Beijing Review , for example, published the full 
text of a speech by Jiang Zemin while he visited Germany, in which he outlined new major 
concerns of Chinese leaders. 124 Jiang stated that China must consider the relationship between 
reform, development, and stability. The government regards development as the objective, reform 
as the driving force, and stability as the precondition. Jiang highlighted the fact that China has 
switched from the highly centralized planned economy of the 1949-78 period and defined China's 
goal as building a socialist market. He also stressed common interests between China and the 
West. 

Although one can learn about China's national priorities from open sources, it is necessary 
to exercise caution and to read between the lines. In the above case, Jiang spoke before a foreign 
audience and perhaps did not make all of his points as clearly as he would to a domestic audience. 
In September 1995, two months after his trip to Germany, Jiang spoke at the Fifth Plenary 
Session of the 14th CCP Central Committee. In this speech, he expounded on twelve 
relationships in China's development. His focus was still on the relationship between reform, 
development, and stability. But when talking about the market mechanism, Jiang also emphasized 
macro-control and called on the socialist market system to do a better and more efficient job than 
Western countries. 125 In short, if one exercises caution and compares information sources, open 
sources can provide useful information about China's national priorities, for example, the four 
modernizations, redefined so as to emphasize the relationship between reform, development, and 
stability. 

Open sources can also provide information about the rationale behind China's holding such 
priorities and can signal future changes. Such information can often be found in scholarly works 


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that debate or propose China's development strategies. For example, Xiao Gongqin, a prominent 
"neo-authoritarian" ideologue in Shanghai, has boldly implied that nationalism should replace 
Marxism-Leninism as the ideology during China's transitional period. His Chinese-language 
article was translated by M. E. Sharpe in Chinese Economic Studies. 126 There has been no such 
official statement by Chinese leaders, but the younger Chinese generation in their thirties or forties 
tend not to hold a serious belief in Marxism-Leninism. New ideas such as that put forward by 
Xiao have been well received by top leaders and may become the mainstream ideology in the next 
10 or 15 years. 

Another example is the study written by two Chinese political economists, Wang 
Shaoguang (Ph.D. from Cornell and associate professor at Yale University) and Hu Angang 
(post-doctoral student at Yale and a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing). 
Their study, which is in Chinese, is entitled "Report on National Conditions"; it was published by 
Yale University in 1993. This report became available in translation in the English journal 
Chinese Economic Studies} 21 In their report, the authors call for an enlarged and stronger state 
capacity in China's modernization process. Echoing Xiao, the two authors urge a more 
authoritarian government for China. Wang and Hu argue that "the state (represented by the 
central government) is the primary leader in the development and growth of the economy, in 
political change and reform, in the transformation of society, and in the conduct of international 
relations." These examples of independent thinking from American-educated scholars were very 
well received by China's central government. The authors not only presented their report to a 
wide Chinese audience but also were warmly received by Chinese political elites, including some 
powerful offspring of top leaders. These people may become the backbone of the next generation 
of Chinese leadership. If this is the case, open sources have informed us of the interests and 
priorities of the next generation's leaders. 

Views of the United States 

An article published in Zhongguo jizhe (The Chinese Journalist) [Beijing] and translated in 
the FBIS Daily Report: China illustrates how open sources can explain the Chinese view of the 
United States. 128 This article, together with several books published in China, is representative of 


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recent changes in the Chinese perception of the United States. A summary of the article follows: 

• The US media is seen as having an unconcealed bias against China. Attacks on the 
Chinese government, society, and culture come not only from the New York Times 
and the Washington Post , but also from some professors and researchers who 
couch their criticisms in an academic format. 

• Human rights is an ideological matter. The whole of US culture is viewed as based 
on a Cold War mentality. The US Congress openly advocates the overthrow of 
the Chinese regime. 

• As regards the "China threat," US academics, specialists, and the CIA are seen as 
concocting astronomical figures in terms of economic growth and military power 
and spreading them through the media in attempt to drive a wedge between China 
and neighboring countries. 

• The United States is seen as favoring Taiwan's independence and United Nations 
membership. 

• While the US press, Congress, and many intellectuals are seen as having an anti- 
China viewpoint, the US business community holds that China needs to be stable 
and that today's China does not pose a threat. 

In the summer of 1996, China published two best-selling books: Zhongguo keyi shuobu 
(The China That Can Say No) and Zhongmei jiaoliang (Trials of Strength Between the United 
States and China). The former monograph was written by young intellectuals in China; the latter 
was written by researchers in the official China Institute for Contemporary International 
Relations. These two books reflect the same themes found in the article summarized above. Both 
books have attracted wide interest in and out of China. 

The China That Can Say No criticizes the United States from social, cultural, economic 
and political perspectives. It argues that the United States has adopted a containment policy 
toward China and that in turn, China should take counter-containment measures. Trials of 
Strength Between the United States and China discusses Sino-US relations from the time of the 
Korean War (1950-53) to Taiwan's Lee Tenghui's visit to the United States. The authors warn 
that the United States is following a pro-Taiwan independence and containment of China policy. 

In a poll conducted among Chinese youth in May 1996, the United States was ranked No. 

1 among the most disliked foreign countries. On other questions, 90 percent believed that the 


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United States is a great country with a prosperous material life and strong overall national power; 
80 percent believed that the United States is a country that emphasizes material value and respects 
professionalism; more than 50 percent believed that the United States is efficient in work but that 
government officials and police are corrupt; 60 percent believed that US society is full of 
competition and employees' positions are not stable; 90 percent believed that the United States 
has serious problems with drugs, the rich-poor gap, and sexual abuse; and 90 percent believed 
that the US government has a hegemonist and unfriendly policy toward China. 129 

Thus, open sources such as Chinese books and newspapers clearly describe the Chinese 
view of the United States. Both FBIS publications and other US English-language publications 
have also commented upon the aforementioned monographs. Their reporting is not only timely 
but also comprehensive. 

However, caution must be exercised when reading the Chinese materials described above. 
It is commonly accepted that China's government propaganda needs to be screened carefully. 
Similarly, one should not accept public open sources without looking below the surface. The 
difference lies in the official and public view. Although China's government shares the feeling 
expressed by the books, articles, and the poll, the authors wrote the materials on their own 
initiative and do not actually represent the government. In addition, since the normalization of 
diplomatic relations between China and the United States in 1979, the Chinese public, for the first 
time, has expressed quite extreme anti-US views; the government however, has been circumspect 
in its comments. If one reads Chinese official statements consistently, it can be seen that China's 
leaders seldom have described the United States as a threat-an exception having been the period 
of the wargame crisis in the Taiwan Straits in early 1996. In short, the difference between public 
and official open sources must be recognized, and the changing nature of China's view of the 
United States also must be recognized. 

Views of the World 

There is ample available open source materials to study China's view of the world. From 
Jiang Zemin's July 1995 speech carried in Beijing Review, for example, the following components 
of the Chinese world outlook can be summarized: 


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• The current world is rife with contradictions and unpredictables. Ethnic feuds, 
territorial disputes, religious strife, scrambling for resources, and trade frictions 
have emerged to have a regional and global impact. 

• The use of force or power politics cannot resolve international disputes, but will 
only widen or spread conflicts and hostilities. The only proper way is to seek a 
peaceful solution through negotiations. 

• The world is moving toward multipolarity. No single major power can dominate 
world affairs or manipulate other countries. All countries, big or small, rich or 
poor, strong or weak, are equal members of the international community. 

• The world is a congregation of countries having different social systems, cultural 
traditions, religious faiths, values, and stages of development. Differences and 
diversities make for the world's multiplicity, which in turn generates a drive for 
interchanges and common progress among countries. 

• The world is characterized by ever-increasing contacts among countries. No 
country can remain aloof from the international community, or cut itself off from 
the overall progress of world science and technology, or refrain from international 
exchanges on the world market. 130 

If Jiang's government is considered the third generation of leadership after Mao and Deng, 
the current leaders have demonstrated unprecedented fresh thinking about the world. From a 
Western perspective, China's leaders are using some very familiar western concepts and 
terminologies, such as interdependence and world market. Differences in values and ideologies 
between East and West appear to be shrinking at a tremendous speed. China's awareness of its 
ties with the world's technological change and progress probably also raises the hope of more 
channels of exchanges between it and the world in the near future. 

In July 1995, Zhongguo qingnian bao (Chinese Youth Daily) [Beijing] reported on a 
series of surveys on how Chinese youth view the world. The views of the youth are very similar 
to the views expressed by the leaders mentioned above. 


Other Elements 

During the research process, we have found other important information about China not 
addressed in the preceding discussion. First, open sources indicate a strong relationship between 


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economic interdependence and China's opening policy. With increasing foreign trade, a growing 
number of memberships in international organizations, and application of advanced technologies, 
China has become gradually integrated (jiegui in Chinese) into the world system. 

Second, China reciprocates actions by other countries such as the United States. It is 
interesting to see that China's actions tend to correspond to the actions of other countries, 
whether they be friendly or hostile. 

Third, as Chinese national power grows, China may be more open about its internal 
information. China has been ambiguous about sensitive issues partly because of its desire to 
conceal the country's weaknesses. 

The Future 

In the 2010 to 2015 period, China will continue to exercise control and censorship of the 
information flow, but to a proportionately decreasing extent. Information is not seen purely as 
news or data, but also as part of culture and politics. Hence, just as China is trying to build a 
modem society with "socialist characteristics," the information system in China will by no means 
be without restrictions. 

Will China succeed in handling the repercussions of the information era? Yes, if China's 
political system continues to function as it does. In the Chinese view, it is people not machines 
that make the information era. China's authorities will try to screen out what is not suitable for 
their needs and does not meet their criteria. China's policy might be realistic for the short term 
because of the current limited development of computer sciences and, to some extent, public 
support for such screening. The loss of some information is not quite as important to the Chinese 
as is the shortage of material goods. This is not to say, however, that China can control the 
information flow as it wishes. By 2010, computer knowledge and automation facilities will be 
much further developed. As a result, China will be vulnerable to the impossibility of selection— 
too much to select and too much to monitor. In the end, China will still be different from the 
West in terms of censorship and central administration, but, perhaps inevitably, will become more 
open and transparent than it is now. 


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APPENDIX 

[Chines e-language websites require Tiandao or Twin Bridge software and many services 
are fee-based.] 

1. Links to China 

2. China News Service 

3. Internet Charges of China News Service 

4. Economic Information & Agency (China Customs Statistics Information Service) 

5. China Statistics Consulting Databases 

6. State Information Center Databases 

7. China Home Page (Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP), Beijing) 

8. IHEP-Intemet Networking 

9. Internet Link in Beijing, 1995 

10. Chinese Media Information Full List 

11. Internet Forum 

12. China Window Homepage 

13. What's New on China Window? 

14. What's New in Shanghai 

15. Look at Shanghai 

16. E-mail in Shanghai 

17. Beijing Window 

18. Fujian Window 

19. China Magazines on Internet 

20. Selected China and China-Related Information Sources Available on the Internet 

21. China Publications 

22. Profiles of Selected Chinese Publications 

23. Basic Statistics for Distribution and Circulation of Books by Regions, 1994 

24. Books, Magazines, and Newspapers Published, 1994 

25. Publishers and Distributors in China 

26. Publishers and Distributors in Hong Kong 

27. The Structure of ChinaPac 

28. ChinaDDN Network 

29. The CERNET Topology Map 

30. CERNET 

31. Geographical List of China based WWW Servers 

32. Great Trend Internet Services 

33. China/Chinese Related Internet Sites 

34. China: Newspaper Services on the Internet 


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BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Serials 

’'CD-ROM Industry Put in Order; 7 Factories Closed,' Ta KungPao [Hong Kong], June 6, 1996, 
A2. 

"Designing for the Digital Age," U.S. News and World Report, September 2, 1996, 49-50. 

"The Economy, Stupid: China's New Regulations Governing Foreign Providers of Economic 
Information Are Motivated by Greed, Not Politics," Business China [Hong Kong], 
February 5, 1996, 1-3. 

"Electronic Publications Expected to do Well in China," Zhongguo Xinwen She report, June 1, 
1996. 

"Five Publications Criticised for Political Mistakes,’ MingPao [Hong Kong], July 28, 1996, A12. 

Gilley, Bruce. "Gag Order," Far Eastern Economic Review [Hong Kong], July 11, 1996, 22-23. 

"Growing Internet Infrastructure And Services Sector in Guangdong," East Asian Executive 
Reports, 18, No. 6, June 15, 1996, 13-15. 

Journal of Communication, 44, No. 3, Summer 1994. 

Liu Binyan. "Fettering the Press," Current History, September 1991, 255-58. 

Wang Shaoguang and Hu Angang. "Wang Shaoguang Proposal I: Report on National 
Conditions," Chinese Economic Studies, 28, No. 3, May-June 1995, 5-22. 

Xiao Gongqin. "Nationalism and the Ideology in China's Transitional Period," Chinese Economic 
Studies, 28, No. 3, May-June 1995, 5-22. 

(Various issues of the following publications also were used in the preparation of this 
report: Beijing Review, Business China [London]; China-Britain Trade Review [London]; China 
Daily [New York and Beijing]; China’s Foreign Trade [Beijing]; Foreign Broadcast Information 
Service, Daily Report: China; Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Science and Technology: 
China: Information Highway/CNII Developments; Zhongguo tongji nianjian (Statistical 
Yearbook of China) [Beijing], State Statistical Bureau, and Zhonggong nianbao (Yearbook on 
Chinese Communism) [Taipei], Institute for the Study of Chinese Communist Problems.) 


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Monographs 

Chen Feng, et al. Zhongwei jiaoliang [Trials of Strength Between China and the United States], 
Beijing: Zhongguo Renshi Chubanshe, 1996. 

Dittmer, Lowell. "The Politics of Publicity in Reform China." Pages 89-112 in Chin-Chuan Lee, 
ed., China's Media, Media's China , Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1994. 

Lee Chin-chuan, ed. China's Media, Media's China. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1994. 

Polumbaum, Judy, "Striving for Predictability: The Bureaucratization of Media Management in 
China." Pages 113-28 in Chin-Chuan Lee, ed., China's Media, Media's China , Boulder, 
Colorado: Westview Press, 1994. 

Schell, Orville. Discos and Democracy. New York: Doubleday, 1989. 

Song Qiang, Zhang Zangzang, and Qiao Bian, Zhongguo keyi shuo bu [The China That Can Say 
No], Beijing Huawen Chubanshe, 1996. 

United States. United States/China Intellectual Property Agreement. February 6, 1995, on public 
file at the Office of the United States Trade Representative. 

Zha Jianying. China Pop. New York: New Press, 1995. 

Zheng Chengsi with Michael Pendleton. "Comparative Copyright in China," reprinted in Peter 
Feng and David Lange; Course Materials: Intellectual Property , Duke University School 
of Law and University of Hong Kong: July 1995. 


Other 

Proceedings. China Telecom '96, August 14-15, 1996, Washington, D.C. 

Hu Ruiwen, "Chinese Education: Development and Perspectives," Paper presented at The Fourth 
International Conference on Chinese Education for the 21st Century: New Challenges and 
Prospects in Global Perspective, Shanghai, August 15-20, 1994. (From 
gopher://hkuppc9.hku.hk:70/00/china-education/shanghai/backl) 

Social Science Studies in Twentieth-Century China: A Case Study. Prepared by the Social 

Science Studies in Twentieth-Century China Case Study Team for the Collections Policy 
Committee, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., October 1995. 

Robert L Worden, "Trip Report: North American Librarians' Delegation to China, October 30- 


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November 8, 1995.” 


Internet 

CINET-L Newsletter: China's Internet Technical Forum, a non-public discussion list technically 
sponsored by China News Digest. 

Info@AsiaInfo.Com {China Business Weekly , China Daily ) 

China News Service (English edition) 


Interviews 

Dr. Thomas Torda and Julia Chang, Foreign Broadcast Information Service 

Mr. John Henry, Deputy Director, Office of Telecommunications, Department of Commerce 

FRD analyst Ming Zhang interviewed ten experts in Hong Kong Institute for International 
Relations, Shanghai Institute for International Studies, Fudan University, Zhongshan 
University, and local cadres in Jiangsu Province. 


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Endnotes 

1. Huang Weiping, "Information Superhighway on Economy Noted," Guangming ribao [Beijing], 
December 20, 1995, 5, in FBIS-CHI-96-036, February 22, 1995, 24. 

2. Jin Wulun, "The Epoch-Making Significance of the Information Superhighway," Guangming 
ribao [Beijing], December 21, 1995, 5, in FBIS-CHI-96-036, February 22, 1995, 22. 

3. Wang Chen, "China Expands Information Network," Beijing Review, July 1-7, 1996, 14. 

4. Alexandra Rehak and John Wang, "On the Fast Track," China Business Review , 23, No. 2, 
March-April 1996, 8. 

5. Alexandra Rehak and John Wang. "On the Fast Track," China Business Review , 23, No. 2, 
March-April 1996, 8. 

6. Josephine Ma, South China Morning Post (Business Post) [Hong Kong], June 22, 1996, 3, in 
FBIS-CHI-96-127, 1 July 1996, 31-32. 

7. "The State Council Set [sic] Up Committee to Govern China's Information Technology (IT) 
Sector," China Telecom , 3, No. 6, June 1996, 2. 

8. Thomas Torda, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, China: S&TPerspectives , July 1996 
(draft). 

9. "Hong Kong and China: Tricky Times Ahead?" Newsbrief [London], 16, No. 8, August 1996, 
64. 

10. Ji Hongguang, "MEI Announces Ninth-FYP Information Industry Targets," Keji ribao 
[Science and Technology Daily] [Beijing], February 2, 1996, 1, in FBIS Report: Science and 
Technology: China: Information Highway/CNIIDevelopments, FBIS-CST-96-005, March 27, 
1996, 30. 

11. Wu Jichuan (Minister of Posts and Telecommunications), "China's Telecommunications 
Development and International Cooperation," July 1995 speech (xerox), 4 [copy from John 
Henry]. 

12. Wu Jichuan July 1995 speech (xerox), 3. 

13. Rehak, Alexandra, "High Hopes, Shallow Pockets," China Business Review, 23, No. 2, 

March-April 1996, 10. 

14. Yin Chuanhong, Keji ribao (Science and Technology Daily) [Beijing], December 8, 1995, 6, 
in FBIS-CST-96-005, March 26, 1996, 16. 


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15. Economist Intelligence Unit. "Getting Wired," Business China [London], May 13, 1996, 3. 

16. Xing Fan. "Networking in China by Communication Networks," paper presented at China 
Telecom 2000, August 14-15, 1996, Washington, D.C., 166. 

17. Liu Jiuru, "Vice Premier Zou Jiahua Inspects Gold Bridge NCC," Jisuanji shijie [China 
Computerworld] [Beijing], No. 47, December 6, 1995, 1, in FBIS Report: Science and 
Technology: China: Information Highway/CNII Developments, FBIS-CST-96-005, March 27, 
1996, 11-12. 

18. Yin Hongqun, "Golden Bridge Project Network Links Up 22 Provinces, Municipalities," Keji 
ribao [Science and Technology Daily] [Beijing] November 8, 1995, 6, in FBIS Report: Science 
and Technology: China: Information Highway/CNII Developments, FBIS-CST-96-005, March 
27, 1996,5. 

19. ITC Telecommunications Report, 3, No. 6, June 26, 1996, 4. 

20. Wang Chen, 15. 

21. ITC Telecommunications Report, 3 No. 6, June 26, 1996, 5. 

22. Xiong Zongyi and Ding Yuezhen, "Shenzhen International Information City Construction 
Begins," Jisuanji shijie (China Computerworld) [Beijing], No. 49, December 20, 1995, 1, in 
FBIS Report: Science and Technology: China: Information Highway/CNII Developments, FBIS- 
CST-96-005, March 27, 1996, 17-18. 

23. "China Plans To Network Its Military Academies," CINET-L Newsletter, No. 73 (CN96-015), 
September 4, 1996 (online); "China's Military Academies to Go On-Line," China News Digest 
(Global News, No. GL96-131), September 6, 1996 (online). 

24. Xing Fan. "Networking China by Communication Networks," paper presented at China 
Telecom 2000, August 14-15, 1996, Washington, D.C., 159-65. 

25. Hui Pan, "Telecommunications in China: Today and Tomorrow," paper presented at China 
Telecom 2000, August 14-15, 1996, Washington, D.C., 10-11. 

26. Zhongguo Xinwen She [Beijing], June 19, 1996, in FBIS-CHI-96-129, July 3, 1996, 49. 

27. Beijing Xinhua, July 1, 1996, in FBIS-CHI-96-130, 41. 

28. Robert L. Worden, "Trip Report: North American Librarians' Delegation to China, October 
30-November 8, 1995," 6-7; "Hi-tech Library for Shanghai," China Daily [Beijing], August 28, 
1996, 5. 


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29. Robert L. Worden, "Trip Report: North American Librarians' Delegation to China, October 

30, November 8, 1995," 6-7. 

30. [galley proof] "China: Internet," Foreign Broadcast Information Service: S & TPerspectives , 
August 1996, np 

31. Cao Min. "Info Superhighway or ...hutong," China Daily [New York], August 14, 1996, 3. 

32. Ching Chi Tao Pao [Hong Kong], June 3, 1996, 16, in FBIS-CHI-96-132, July 9, 1996, 47. 

33. China-Britain Trade Review [London], June 1996, 23. 

34. Zhonggon nianjian, 1996, Part 8, 43; China-Britain Trade Review [London], October 1996, 

20 . 

35. Polumbaum, 114. 

36. Polumbaum, 114. 

37. Zheng Chengsi, et. al, "Copyright Law in China," reprinted in Peter Feng and David Lange; 
Course Materials: Comparative Intellectual Property , Duke University School of Law and 
University of Hong Kong, July 1995, 55. 

38. Paul Siu-nam Lee, "Mass Communication and National Development in China: Media Roles 
Reconsidered," Journal of Communication , 44, No. 3, Summer 1994, 24. 

39. Orville Schell, Discos and Democracy. New York: Pantheon, 1989, 99. 

40. Schell, 100. 

41. Leonard L. Chu, "Continuity and Change in China’s Media Reform," Journal of 
Communication , 44, No. 3, Summer 1994, 12. 

42. Polumbaum, 115. 

43. Schell, 97. 

44. Lee, 25. 

45. Schell, 97. 

46. Schell, 90. 

47. Worden, "Trip Report: North American Librarians' Delegation to China, October 30- 
November 8, 1995," 1-3; and International Literary Market Place, 1996 , New Providence, New 
Jersey: Bowker, 1995, 952. 


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48. "Fujian publishing sector enhances overseas co-operation," 
www.chinanews.com/news/9609/02/090201aa.eng (online). 

49. Leonard L. Chu, "Continuity and Change in China's Media Reform," Journal of 
Communication , 44, No. 3, Summer 1994, 8. 

50. Chu, 8. 

51. Liu Binyan, "Fettering the Press," Current History , September 1991, 256. 

52. Liu Binyan, 256. 

53. "Five Publications Criticised for Political Mistakes," Ming Pao, July 28, 1996, A12. 

54. United States/China Intellectual Property Agreement, February 6, 1995, on public file at the 
Office of the United States Trade Representative, 3. 

55. Chu, 8. 

56. Chan, 245. 

57. A broad view of Internet publishing has been taken. This includes electronic publications 
(journals) and World Wide Web sites; the broader issue is increased Internet access and usage. 

58. Much of the information in this section was derived from Jonathan K. Ocko's "Report to the 
Library of Congress on Chinese-Language Digitized Materials Related to the Study of Twentieth- 
Century China," September 1995. 

59. Liu Jiuru, "Vice Premier Zou Jiahua Inspects Golden Bridge NCC," Jisuanji shijie [China 
Computerworld] [Beijing], No. 47, December 6, 1995, 1, in FBIS Report: Science and 
Technology: China: Information Highway/CNII Developments, FBIS-CST-96-005, March 27, 
1996, 12. 

60. This information was obtained during Ming Zhang's June 1966 visit to Hong Kong. 

61. World Radio TV Handbook, 1995, 181-93. 

62. Polumbaum 1994, 3. 

63. China Pictorial [Beijing], No. 7, July 1996, 15. 

64. Greg Heakes, "Outsiders Lead Way in Race to Tune into TV Profits," South China Morning 
Post [Hong Kong], International Weekly, April 22, 1995, Business, 5; Business China , February 
19, 1996, 6. 

65. Internet: CNN World News, August 9, 1966. 


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66. William H. Honan, "Language Study Shifts Again: Chinese Is Up, Russian Down," New York 
Times , October 9, 1996, B9. 

67. U.S. News & World Report , September 2, 1966, 49. 

68. Shao Ning. "ChinaNet Spreading Info Rapidly Across the Nation," China Daily [New York], 
August 23, 1996, 9. 

69. CINET-L Newsletter , No. 71 (CN96-014), July 18, 1996 (online). 

70. Xie Liangjun. "Internet Links to be Expanded," China Daily [New York], August 15, 1996, 

2 . 

71. China News Digest , Global News, (No. GL96-143), October 4, 1996 (online). 

72. "Growing Internet Infrastructure and Services Sector in Guangdong." East Asian Executive 
Reports , 18, No. 6, June 15, 1996, 13. 

73. "Growing Internet Infrastructure And Services Sector in Guangdong," East Asian Executive 
Reports , 18, No. 6, June 15, 1996, 13. 

74. "PRC Internet Capacity," Northeast Asia Peace and Security Network Daily Report, October 
23, 1996 (online). 

75. Zhang Yuxing, Gansu ribao [Lanzhou], July 11, 1996, 1, in FBIS-CHI-96-146, July 29, 
1996,21. 

76. Beijing Xinhua, June 27, 1996, in FBIS-CHI-96-126, June 28, 1996, 33-34. 

77. CTCNews [Hong Kong], 2, No. 10, June 5, 1996, 2. 

78. Chen Dazhi, "Chinanet Project for High-Speed Internet Service With 31 Backbone Nodes To 
Be Completed in June 1996," Jisuanji shijie (China Computerworld) [Beijing], No. 44, 

November 15, 1995, 1, in FBIS Report, Science & Technology: China: Information 
Superhighway/CNIIDevelopments, FBIS-CST-96-005, 12-13. 

79. Jinan Shandong People's Radio, July 5, 1996, in FBIS-CHI-96-131, July 8, 1996, 44. 

80. Vivien Wong, Hong Kong Standard [Hong Kong], July 13, 1996, 6, in FBIS-CHI-96-139, 

July 18, 1996, 23-24; "China Encourages Expansion of Internet," CINET-L Newsletter , No. 783 
(CN96-015), September 4, 1996 (online). 

81. CTC News [Hong Kong], June 5, 1996, 1. 

82. CINET-L Newsletter, No. 71 (CN96-014), July 18, 1996. 


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83. Yue Ziqiang, "Shanghai Educational, Research Network (SHERNET) Opens," Jisuanji shijie 
(China Computerworld) [Beijing], No. 4, January 22, 1996, 2, in FBIS Report: Science and 
Technology: China: Information Highway/CNII Developments, FBIS-CST-96-005, March 27, 
1996, 27. 

84. CTC News [Hong Kong], June 5, 1996, 1. 

8 5. http ://www. chinanews. com/NF_news_service_price. html 

86. China Telecommunications Construction News [Hong Kong], June 5, 1996, 1. 

87. "Internet Service," China Daily [New York], August 23, 1996, 9. 

88. Hu Ruiwen. "Background Report No. 1: Chinese Education: Development and Perspectives," 
Paper presented at The Fourth International Conference on Chinese Education for the 21st 
Century: New Challenges and Prospects in Global Perspective, August 15-20, 1994, Shanghai, 
from gopher://hkuppc9.hku.hk:70/00/china-education/shanghai/backl. 

89. Ren Zhenqiang, "Random Notes on International Economy: Guard Against Information 
Invasion, Plunder," Jingji ribao [Beijing], January 25, 1996, 4, in FBIS-CHI-96-031, February 
14, 1996, 18. 

90. "MPT Further Standardizes Management on CHINANET," CTC News [Hong Kong], June 5, 
1996,3. 

91. "PRC Internet Access," Northeast Asia Peace and Security Network Daily Report ," 

September 5, 1996 (electronic); Renee School, "China Blocks User Access To 100-Plus Sites on 
Web," Washington Post , September 10, 1996, C4. 

92. Vivien Wong, 24. 

93. CTC News [Hong Kong], June 5, 1996, 2. 

94. CTC News [Hong Kong], June 5, 1996, 3. 

95. Foreign Broadcast Information Service, China: S&TPerspectives , July 1996 (draft) 

96. "IBM and National Library of China Plan to Put Books on the Internet," CINET-L 
Newsletter, No. 73 (CN96-015), September 4, 1996. 

97. Shao Ning. "School Employs Network for Student Enrolment," China Daily [Beijing], 

August 14, 1996, 1. 

98. Steven Mufson, "Chinese Protest Finds a Path On the Internet," Washington Post , September 
17, 1996, A9. 


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99. Business China [Hong Kong], February 5, 1966, 1. 

100. Judy Polumbaum, "Striving for Predictability: The Bureaucratization of Media Management 
in China," 121, in Chin-Chuan Lee, ed. China's Media, Media's China , Boulder, Colorado: 
Westview Press, 1994. 

101. Polumbaum, 122. 

102. FBIS-CHI-96-074, April 16, 1966, 31. 

103. FBIS-CHI-96-074, April 16, 1996, 27. 

104. FBIS-CHI-96-074, April 16, 1996, 24-27. 

105. FBIS-CHI-96-064, April 2, 1996, 22. 

106. FBIS-CHI-96-074, April 16, 1996, 19. 

107. FBIS-CHI-96-123, June 25, 1996, 28. 

108. Christiaan Virant, "Ministry Steps Up Foreign National 'Surveillance,"' Eastern Express 
[Hong Kong], March 19, 1996, in FBIS-CHI-96-054, March 19, 1996, 54. 

109. FBIS-CHI-96-054, March 19, 1996, 54. 

110. Polumbaum, 115. 

111. Polumbaum, 115. 

112. Polumbaum, 115. 

113. Beijing Review, December 18-24, 1996, 26. 

114. Beijing Review, April 15-21, 1996, 26. 

115. Beijing Review, October 30-November 5, 1995, 25. 

116. Beijing Review, July 3-9, 1995, 34. 

117. Beijing Review, July 3-9, 1995, 34. 

118. Beijing Review, July 24-30, 1995, 27. 

119. Beijing Review, May 20-26, 1966, 27. 

120. Beijing Review, May 20-26, 1996, 27. 


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121. Beijing Review, June 3-9, 1996, 27. 

122. China Daily [New York], August 2, 1966, 2. 

123. New York Times , August 20, 1996, l; Far Eastern Economic Review [Hong Kong], August 
29, 1996, 40. 

124. Beijing Review, July 31-August 6, 1995, 20-24. 

125. Beijing Review, November 6-11, 1995. 

126. Xiao Gongqin, "Nationalism and the Ideology in China's Transitional Period," Chinese 
Economic Studies, 28, No. 2, March-April 1995. 

127. Wang Shaoguang and Hu Angang, "Wang Shaoguang Proposal I: Report on National 
Conditions," Chinese Economic Studies, 28, No. 3, May-June 1995, 5-22. 

128. FBIS-CHI-96-147, July 30, 1996, 3-8. 

129. Zhongguo qingnian bao (China Youth Daily), May 1996. 

130. Beijing Review, July 31-August 6, 1995, 20-24. 


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